Oskar Espina Ruiz, Artistic Director
Music Mountain Tax Smart Gifts
In addition to making cash donations (which we are always thrilled to receive and need!) did you know there are other ways to help fund Music Mountain’s mission and benefit you and your family? Please see below descriptions of several tax saving techniques and funding vehicles:
All contributions to Music Mountain, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN #23-7219961, are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
Call us at (860) 836-6296 or email us at info@musicmountain.org if you have any questions.
Music Mountain is located at 225 Music Mountain Road, in Falls Village, Connecticut.
Making a Qualified Charitable Contribution - from your Annual RMD
Music lovers who are 70.5 or older and have a traditional IRA are eligible to make tax-free contributions to Music Mountain from their IRAs. These are known as Qualified Charitable Contributions (QCDs).
And once you reach the point where you have to make Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your IRA, did you know that these direct charitable contributions count toward your annual amount? Further, you can contribute more than your RMD to charity as long as you do not exceed $100,000 in a calendar year. Please see a link below to an IRS article about QCDs.
Please speak with your accountant before you decide to contribute in order to make sure this is right for you.
Making a Stock Donation
Did you know that you can donate appreciated stock to Music Mountain? If the security was held longer than a year, you could potentially give us up to 20% more than if you had sold the stock and gifted us the proceeds. This is due to the avoidance of capital gains taxes. You may also be able to deduct the fair market value of the stock from your income taxes, up to the amount the IRS allows. We can help you make the transfer easy! Call us to learn more (what number? Who is being called? Is this true for all the options discussed?).
Please consult your own financial and tax advisors to confirm that it makes sense for you to contribute appreciated securities.
Creating Split Interest Trusts
You can create a “split interest” trust during your lifetime or under your Will that benefits Music Mountain, as well as you or your family.
Two options:
A “Charitable Lead Trust”
A “Charitable Lead Trust” might pay a 5% annuity or unitrust payment every year for 20 years to Music Mountain. At the end of the 20-year trust term, the remaining trust property may pass to your children or in further trust for their benefit. The Charitable Lead Trust benefits Music Mountain immediately and, if the Trust investments perform well, may provide significant assets to your family at the end of the term. Depending on its structure, you as Grantor could take an immediate income tax charitable deduction for the present value of the future payments to Music Mountain.
A “Charitable Remainder Trust”
Often, highly appreciated assets are gifted into this trust which is exempt from income tax. Therefore, when the assets are sold, there is no immediate capital gains tax payable by the Trust on the gain and you get an income tax deduction for the remaining gift to Music Mountain. You may receive an annuity of at least 5% per year for your life, or a term of years. At your death, the remaining trust assets pass to Music Mountain.
Once again, before considering these structures and techniques please get the advice of your attorney and accountant, who can run through specific scenarios for you!
About Music Mountain
Since 1930, generations of music lovers have come to Music Mountain for an exceptional concert experience, and today, audiences continue to praise the outstanding quality and consistency of the events at Music Mountain, the exceptional acoustics of air-conditioned Gordon Hall, and the beauty and peaceful serenity of Music Mountain’s mountaintop grounds. Recent concertgoers see Music Mountain as “a peaceful green oasis” and highlight its “amazing venue, ambience, and experience.”
Music Mountain, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, began as the unique vision of Jacques Gordon, Chicago Symphony concertmaster from 1921 to 1930 and the founding first violinist of the Gordon String Quartet, one of the leading quartets of its time. The buildings at Music Mountain form a well-designed campus in the Colonial Revival style. They were built by Sears, Roebuck & Company’s prefabricated housing division and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.