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This tool applies to long-term appreciated publicly traded securities (held more than one year). It assumes the full contribution is deductible and is your only charitable gift for the year (the 0.5% AGI floor applies to your total giving). Enter your own tax rates below; if you are unsure, your tax adviser can confirm them.
Ordinary Income Tax Rates
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0%
Long Term Capital Gain Tax Rates
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33%
Before you calculate — please read. This tool is an educational illustration only, not individualized tax, legal, accounting, or investment advice, and not a recommendation to make any gift. Results are hypothetical, are not guarantees, and are not a prediction of actual tax savings. It relies on many simplifying assumptions (described with your results) and uses the rates you enter. It does not calculate AGI percentage limits, carryforward rules, substantiation requirements, AMT, state-specific rules, NIIT limitations, tax-lot selection, or whether the deduction changes your actual tax return.
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Last tax-law review: June 2026. Reflects 2026 federal tax rules only (OBBBA / IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Tool version 2026.4. Maintained by Tillman Hartley Compliance; subject to annual review and update for tax-law changes.
Results
Do not use these figures for tax reporting or return preparation. They are a hypothetical educational illustration, not a tax estimate.
Each scenario below starts from the same appreciated stock position and shows what it costs you in spendable cash value—the after-tax money you would otherwise have in your pocket.
Scenario A: Sell the Shares and Keep the Cash
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Scenario B: Sell Shares, Then Gift the Cash
To deliver the target cash gift, this scenario requires selling more stock than the gift value, because capital gains tax is owed on the sale. The figures below reflect that larger liquidation.
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Scenario C: Gift the Shares Directly
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Under the assumptions you enter, this illustration compares the spendable-cash cost of each giving path. Your results will appear here after you calculate.
Assumptions, Limitations, and Why a Coordinated Team Matters
This is a one-year educational illustration of a single decision. To keep it simple, it makes a number of assumptions that may not hold for your situation. Where they do not, your actual result can differ materially.What the tool assumes about the gift
- The asset is a long-term appreciated publicly traded security held more than one year, not restricted stock, private company shares, crypto, or other property.
- The recipient is a qualified charity eligible for deductible contributions, and the full contribution is deductible. It does not model recipient-specific limits (for example, donor-advised fund or private foundation rules) or the AGI percentage limits and carryforward rules that can reduce a current-year deduction.
- The gift modeled is your only charitable gift for the year. The 0.5% of AGI floor applies to your total giving, so other gifts would change the result.
- You receive nothing of value in return, and all substantiation (receipt, contemporaneous written acknowledgment, Form 8283 for noncash gifts over $500, broker transfer records) is satisfied.
- Fair market value and cost basis as entered are accurate, and the value transferred equals the value the charity ultimately realizes.
What the tool assumes about your taxes
- You itemize deductions, and your charitable deduction is fully usable this year. It does not check the standard deduction, other itemized deductions, or the SALT cap.
- The tax rates are the ones you enter. They are combined by simple addition, and federal and state interactions are not modeled. Actual brackets depend on your taxable income, and a large gain or deduction can span more than one bracket.
- The 35% top-bracket cap is applied as a simplified rate substitution when the 37% federal rate is selected, and the 3.8% NIIT, if included, is applied as a flat rate rather than on the lesser of net investment income or MAGI excess.
- State tax treatment is simplified: the entered state rate is assumed to apply to gains and to produce a deduction benefit at the state ordinary rate. Certain states do not allow charitable deductions, limit deductions, or apply different rules to capital gains. State tax impacts shown are illustrative only. It does not model AMT, phase-outs, or state-specific rules.
What the tool assumes about the transaction
- In Scenario B, you own enough additional shares to sell, and all shares sold share the same basis ratio as the modeled position. Actual tax-lot selection can change the result.
- Trading costs, custodian and fund fees, and market movement between calculation, sale, transfer, and receipt are ignored.
- The comparison reflects one year of tax cost only, not portfolio impact, future appreciation, rebalancing, or your broader charitable intent.
This is why a coordinated team matters. Each assumption above is a place where your real circumstances, your full tax picture, your other giving, your state, your portfolio and tax lots, and your long-term goals, can change the answer. A charitable gift is rarely just a tax decision; it sits at the intersection of tax, investment, and estate planning. Coordinating your CPA or tax adviser, your financial adviser, and where relevant your estate attorney lets these moving parts be evaluated together so your giving accomplishes what you intend in the most effective way for your situation. Retirees in particular should ask whether a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA may be a better fit than gifting appreciated stock. If appropriate, we can work alongside your CPA, tax adviser, and estate-planning attorney to evaluate these considerations. This illustration is a starting point for that conversation, not a substitute for it.
These figures are for education only and should not be used for tax filing, charitable substantiation, or determining the deductible amount on a tax return.
These figures are for education only and should not be used for tax filing, charitable substantiation, or determining the deductible amount on a tax return.
Review these assumptions with your tax adviser and advisory team before acting.
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