San Francisco (Jan. 5, 2004) –- Gifts by the 400 wealthiest taxpayers in the U.S. accounted for about 7 percent of all charitable gifts reported on income tax returns for the year 2000, according to NewTithing Group, a nonprofit donor education and research organization.
However, the San Francisco-based group said that the top 400 American tax filers could have donated an additional $19 billion between 1997 and 2000 without sacrificing their lifestyle by donating, rather than selling, long-term appreciated assets. Its report, which is available at
In 2000, the wealthiest 400 taxpayers donated a combined $10.1 billion to charity, compared to $4.4 billion, or 3.5 percent of all individual giving, in 1999, and $2.4 billion, or 2.4 percent, in 1997. Nearly all of the increase came from gifts of assets.
During the four-year period from 1997 to 2000, average salaries for that group more than doubled to approximately $30 million a year, according to NewTithing’s president and executive director, Tim Stone. Average assets for such filers, not counting the value of their personal homes and possessions, nearly doubled to over half a billion dollars each, Stone said.
-- WebCPA staff
