In Chief Counsel Advice 201042023 (10/22/2010), IRS has held that a trust cannot claim an income tax charitable deduction for the fair market value of appreciated property donated to charity, despite the fact that the property was purchased with the trust’s gross income from prior years and was traceable to that income. Under Code Section 642(c)(1), an income tax charitable deduction is allowed to a trust only for contributions made out of gross income. Contributions made from income accumulated in prior years also are deductible, but only if no deduction was allowed to the trust in any prior year for the amount presently contributed. In the present case, the trust agreement provided that the trustee could distribute to charity such amounts of the trust’s gross income as the trustee determined. The trust purchased three properties with prior years’ gross income and donated one property each to three charities. The trust based it charitable contribution deduction on the fair market value of the properties at the time they were donated, rather than on the trust’s basis in each property. IRS concluded that the trust’s charitable deduction was limited to the trust’s adjusted bases in the properties, and stated that to conclude otherwise would give the trust a double tax advantage: (1) avoidance of tax on the potential gain and (2) the ability to deduct not only the basis, but also the gain, from gross income.