Protect Charitable Deductions for Stronger Communities

PhilanTopic: Congress is threatening to eliminate the charitable deduction as we know it -- at the expense of millions of people in need. Specifically, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are talking about imposing a cap or limit on the value of the charitable tax deduction as part of a bigger effort to raise additional revenue and/or "simplify" the tax code.

Senate Finance Committee Releases White Paper on Tax-Exempt Organizations and Charitable Giving - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Senate Finance Committee Releases White Paper on Tax-Exempt Organizations and Charitable Giving - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: Bipartisanship and cooperation does happen on Capitol Hill. Last week, the Senate Finance Committee produced a concise and readable review of options available to change regulation of tax-exempt organizations and charitable giving. The 19-page report is replete with numbered lists, bullet points, and links to source documents where each possible idea is explained in more detail. The document’s introduction states that it is a “joint product of the majority and minority staffs of the Finance Committee with input from Committee members’ staffs.”

Hoodwinked? As Nonprofits Focus on Charitable Deduction, Sequestration Cuts Inflict Pain - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Hoodwinked? As Nonprofits Focus on Charitable Deduction, Sequestration Cuts Inflict Pain - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: if government extends the continuing resolution, as we expect it will, what effect might that have on the negotiations between the White House and Congress in relation to sequestration? President Barack Obama has indicated that he will still push for new revenues. Does that mean President Obama will revive his proposal to cap the deductibility of charitable donations (and other itemized deductions) at 28 percent even though the top tax rate is now 39.6 percent? If that proposal were to resurface, would it have a prayer of passage, having gone nowhere in Congress four times running?

And where will the charitable deduction fit into the larger issue of maintaining federal government funding for charities that address the basic needs of lower income Americans? Here is our analysis of the short-term future of the charitable deduction, pro and con, based on the surprising and perplexing House Ways and Means Committee hearings that were convened to get charities to speak out on their incentive in the federal tax code.