Knoxville Bar Association Knoxville Tennessee

Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
This section of the KBA website has been established by the Knoxville Bar Association so that the legal community can offer assistance to lawyers and employees of the legal system who have been displaced due to Hurricane Katrina.

Attorney Assist

As hurricane victims begin to arrive in the Knoxville area, the Knoxville Bar Association will keep members apprised of any services that are needed including office space, housing or employment opportunities.

If you have potential resources available, please complete this form and we will add your listing.

American Red Cross
Knoxville Attorney and Chairman of the Board of the Knoxville Area Chapter of the American Red Cross (ARC), Keith Burroughs, encourages that gifts be made to the Red Cross to assist those impacted in the gulf coast region of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama by Hurricane Katrina. Your tax deductible contributions for disaster services may be made payable and mailed to:

American Red Cross
Knoxville Area Chapter
P.O. Box 50156
Knoxville, TN 37950-0156

100% of your gifts to the Red Cross will be used for disaster relief, and nothing will be deducted by the Red Cross for administrative, management or fundraising costs. These costs will be borne by the general budgets of the National ARC and its chapters.

Monetary gifts and volunteer time are the most effective ways to assist those impacted by this disaster, the largest domestic disaster on record. The Red Cross can put the money you give to work in as near proximity to those in need, thus making monetary gifts preferable to in kind donations to the Katrina relief effort. With partners such as Lowe's and Sam's Club/Walmart, the Red Cross can use your gifts to purchase goods and services for victims in markets closest to where the victims are located, thus minimizing inventory, warehousing and transportation costs associated with timely delivering items needed to the victims.

You may also make your donations and learn more about volunteer opportunities online at http://www.knoxarc.org or by calling the Chapter House at 865/584-2999.

Louisiana & Mississippi State Bars Establish Relief Funds
Due to the widespread destruction that Hurricane Katrina has had on the Metropolitan New Orleans area and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the state bars of Louisiana and Mississippi have established the Hurricane Katrina Legal Community Relief Fund to help assist lawyers who lost their homes and offices in the storm.

"The Red Cross and FEMA are poised to help citizens cope with their personal losses but I am confident members of the legal community will come together to help their colleagues whose law practices and families have been displaced by this unprecedented disaster," Louisiana State Bar Association President Frank X. Neuner, Jr. of Lafayette said of the fund. "Lawyers from across the state and country have contacted me in the past few days to determine what they can do to assist other members of the profession," Neuner added. "We created the fund to provide a mechanism for these caring members of the legal community to assist their colleagues in this time of need."

Hurricane Katrina Legal Community Relief Fund
c/o Baton Rouge Bar Foundation
544 Main Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802.

Hurricane Katrina Lawyer Relief Fund
c/o Mississippi Bar Foundation
PO Box 2168
Jackson, MS 39225-2168.

Legal Community Disaster Relief Organizations

On September 23, 2005 President Bush signed into law the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005. While many provisions of the Act do not apply to those of us who were spared a direct impact from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the Act does contain several provisions regarding the deductibility of charitable contributions that apply to all taxpayers.

Most significantly, cash contributions made by individuals between August 28, 2005 and December 31, 2005 to qualifying charitable organizations will not be subject to the normal limitation of 50% of the individual's Adjusted Gross Income ("AGI"). In addition, these “qualified contributions” will not be subject to the overall limitation or phaseout of itemized deductions for taxpayers with an AGI above $145,950, or married filing separately taxpayers with an AGI of $72,975. Effectively, a full above-the-line deduction will be given for qualified contributions instead of subjecting them to the normal limitations. Gifts from partnerships and S-corporations will be considered as having been made by the partner or shareholder.

The only limitation placed on qualified contributions is that the total deduction for charitable contributions, both qualified and ones deducted under the normal rules, may not exceed 100% of an individual's AGI. Contributions in excess of this amount are carried over to the next 5 succeeding taxable years, subject to the normal limitations. It is very important to note that these new rules regarding qualified contributions are NOT limited to gifts to organizations or uses associated with Hurricane Katrina relief.

The Rules to Remember:

These changes only apply to cash contributions. Contributions such as securities, real estate and tangible personal property are not qualified contributions.
The contributions must be to qualifying charitable organizations. These include public charities, operating foundations and certain governmental units. Churches, schools, and relief agencies such as the Red Cross or United Way are all examples of qualifying organizations. Examples of charitable organizations which do not qualify are typical family private foundations, supporting organizations, donor advised funds (or any segregated fund for which the donor has advisory privileges), and charitable remainder trusts.
Only contributions made between August 28, 2005 and December 31, 2005 qualify.
An election must be made on the individual's tax return to treat the eligible contributions as "qualified".

The Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act also includes other charitable provisions:

An increase in the charitable mileage rate deduction and tax-free mileage reimbursement amount for Hurricane Katrina relief activities;
An additional personal exemption for housing Hurricane Katrina victims;
Enhanced deductions for food inventory donations; and
Special charitable provisions for corporations including an increase in the limit for qualified contributions made specifically for Hurricane Katrina relief, and an enhanced deduction for qualified book donations to public schools.

Whether you are interested in taking advantage of the provisions of the Act to help the families of the Gulf Coast devastated by Katrina or in learning how the provisions of the Act can enhance the accomplishment of your other charitable objectives, please contact your LBMC tax advisor to discuss the implications of the Act for your charitable plans.

For additional information, please contact Dania Leatherman at:

Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain
Knoxville Office
9125 Cross Park Drive - Suite 200 - Knoxville, TN 37923 - (865) 694-4008