Impact of the Montana Endowment Tax Credit

Endow MontanaImpact of the Montana Endowment Tax Credit

Originally enacted in 1997, the Montana Income Tax Credit for Endowed Philanthropy encourages charitable giving to qualified endowments by offering incentives to Montana taxpayers. The Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) reports that the tax credit has been claimed on over $121 million in gifts to Montana charitable endowments from 1997 to 2012. Assuming a standard endowment distribution rate of 5%, these gifts create at least $600,000 in distributions to Montana nonprofits every year.

Although it is not possible to discern the motivations of the donor to determine whether the tax credit caused these gifts, the amount of gifts given to charitable endowments would almost certainly be lower in the absence of the credit.

For technical questions regarding the Endowment Tax Credit, please contact Montana Community Foundation.

Amount of Endowment Credit Claimed and the Gift Amount used to Claim the Credit 

Individual Corporate
Year Credit
Claimed 		Credit
Percentage 		Gift Amt used to Claim Credit Credit
Claimed 		Credit
Percentage 		Gift Amt used to Claim Credit
1997 $1,332,693 50% $2,665,386 $173,972 50% $347,944
1998 $3,191,145 50% $6,576,468 $380,512 50% $761,024
1999 $5,547,290 50% $11,320,098 $652,025 50% $1,304,050
2000 $6,960,128 50% $14,243,846 $751,549 50% $1,503,098
2001 $7,410,957 50% $15,100,822 $712,539 50% $1,425,078
2002 $1,610,509 40% $4,236,953 $108,087 20% $540,435
2003 $2,138,607 40% $5,449,240 $112,435 20% $562,175
2004 $2,502,605 40% $6,462,603 $131,866 20% $659,330
2005 $2,491,431 40% $6,228,578 $159,309 20% $796,545
2006 $3,164,764 40% $8,112,566 $197,833 20% $989,165
2007 $3,037,790 40% $7,147,088 $134,927 20% $674,635
2008 $1,990,411 40% $4,976,028 $35,256 20% $176,280
2009 $1,808,443 40% $4,521,108 $94,899 20% $474,445
2010 $1,827,181 40% $4,567,953 $42,830 20% $214,150
2011 $1,784,717 40% $4,461,793 $45,911 20% $229,555
2012 $2,072,754 40% $5,181,885 $60,406 20% $302,030

2013

$2,124,379 40% $5,310,948 $58,795
2014 $2,511,011 40% $6,277,528 $47,124
2015 $2,494,926 40% $6,237,315 $37,766
2016 $2,742,871 40% $6,857,178
Total $58,745,012 $134,641,225 $3,938,031