Comments for Alpharetta News Blog

Comment on Nancy Christie - Birmingham News by MLK

MLK — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:58:53 +0000

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Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by Albert Reed

Albert Reed — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:55:29 +0000

Manipulating the appraisal process is not a good thing. But please keep in mind there are a lot of other good charities who do donations the way they should be done. Just because one charity may be very misleading does not mean they all are.

Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by Nick

Nick — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:38:46 +0000

I have been following the above comments. John glad to hear you work for a good company. However, the charity that Dean Zerbe was talking about in the Chronical of Philanthropy is Seedamerica. A group to stay away from. There have been other discussions on some tax blog sites about how they manipulate the appraisal process. If I were a corporation who did a donation with them I would be expecting to have IRS come knocking on my door soon. Most professionals in the indusrty think their web site is misleading and not accurate. Please beware.

Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by John

John — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:03:00 +0000

I’m not sure about the organization referred to in Michael’s statement, but the organization that I work for does not gurantee an appraisal of 2 times the list price. We use the 561 Exchange merely as an exit strategy for corporations who no longer want to go through the headache of carrying underused property or hard-to-sell property. We do not make questionable claims such those suggested in Zerbe’s statement. My organization is a registered 501(c)3 organization and adheres to nonprofit standards.

Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by Michael

Michael — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:21:58 +0000

What does concern me was the a recent discussion in the Chronical of Philanthropy pertaining to 561 Exchange on Curbing Charity Abuses, with Dean Zerbe, Senator Grassley’s former senior council. Here is what he said:

Dean A. Zerbe:
The”561 exchange” seems to be the newest gift from the weasels. As far as I can tell from looking at the material on the web, it seems to be trying to put new wrapping paper around the current laws regarding charitable deductions and trying to package it as something new (your “cash benefit” is your charitable deduction). The websites refer to IRS publication 561 but IRS publication 561 is just the IRS pub “Determining the Value of Donated Property” – the 101 of valuation. As you may know, the Congress did a lot of work here in increasing penalties as it applies to valuation and the donation of land is something the IRS is watching closely. I agree with you that anything that suggests an FMV appraisal of 2 times “list price” as you note raises huge red flags.

Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by Lynn

Lynn — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:59:02 +0000

Michael is correct in that the 561 Exchange is not an IRS term, but is a marketing term and yes, it is still a donation. The difference is that most non-profit are not in the business of property management after a building is donated to them, so they sell it for a quick profit. SeedAmerica is a real estate company that manages properties long-term, with the hopes of leasing space to small business owners, which helps restore communities devastated by the exodus of manufacturing overseas.

Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by Michael

Michael — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:59:04 +0000

There is no difference between what they call a 561 Exchange and a typical donation. Market Value is Market Value and does not depend on what charity receives the donation. 561 Exchange is a term that was created by the charity and is not an IRS term.

Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:57:02 +0000

What makes the 561 Exchange different from a standard charitable donation is that the owner typically receives a cash benefit of only 35%-40% of the value of the property when transfering a property in a standard donation.

By strictly following the guidelines of IRS Publication 561, which explains how to Determine Fair Market Value, a 561 Exchange transaction can often yield cash benefits in the form of tax deductions, that meet and sometimes exceed the full cash value of a property sold at list price. This is especially useful for hard-to-move commercial buildings.

Comment on GOP Christians’ loyalties divided; Huckabee leads by Tom Allen

Tom Allen — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:06:40 +0000

I saw an article on SeedAmerica in the AJC. How is the 561 Exchange different from any other donation?

Comment on Faith & Values by Freddie Sirmans

Freddie Sirmans — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:44:00 +0000

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