Читать книгу The Tax Law of Charitable Giving - Bruce Hopkins R., Bruce R. Hopkins, David Middlebrook - Страница 24

The basic federal law on the subject of the tax aspects of charitable giving is contained in the Internal Revenue Code and in the interpretations of that body of law found in court opinions, Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, and IRS public rulings. (Technically not law, pronouncements by the IRS on this subject may be found in private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda, and chief counsel advice memoranda.) This body of law is specific on various aspects of the law of charitable giving, as the pages of this book attest.

Despite this extensive treatment of these aspects of the law, there is a dramatic omission in the rules concerning charitable giving: The federal law is scarce as to the meaning of the word gift or contribution.¹ This is highly significant, because there obviously must be a gift before there can be a charitable gift (and one or more charitable contribution deductions).