“Leaders of nonprofit advocacy organizations have applauded legislation introduced to create a universal charitable deduction for all taxpayers but note concerns about limiting it to a third of the standard deduction,” writes Mark Hrywna in Thursday’s (10/12) Nonprofit Times. “U.S. Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) last week introduced the Universal Charitable Deduction Act (H.R. 3988), which was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. The bill would establish a universal charitable deduction, which would be available to taxpayers who itemize as well as those who do not and merely take the standard deduction.… While nonprofit advocacy organizations applaud the legislation’s introduction and the universal deduction, one sticking point appears to be the limit for non-itemizers. The bill ‘is a clear effort to provide a solution to our communities for a problem created by the tax reform framework released in late September by Republican leaders in Congress and the Administration,’ said Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits…. Doubling the deduction also would likely decrease charitable giving anywhere from $5 billion to $16 billion annually, according to a recent study, which also estimated that giving could rise from $1.1 billion to $4.8 billion if the charitable deduction became universal.”
Posted October 17, 2017
