Charities lobbying to restore expanded tax deduction for giving

Council of Nonprofits in the News

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#Relief4Charities

Universal Charitable Deduction

Charitable Giving Incentives

The March 2020 law allowed an “above the line” deduction of up to $300 for charitable giving in 2020, meaning that the almost 90 percent of taxpayers who take the standard deduction had a new incentive to give. Then in a year-end 2020 law renewing many tax relief provisions, policymakers extended that above-the-line deduction for another year and doubled it for married couples filing jointly, allowing them to deduct up to $600.

David L. Thompson, vice president of public policy for the National Council of Nonprofits, said the group will be pressing lawmakers to bring back the incentive as part of any new pandemic aid and to make it more generous. The Council has a network of more than 25,000 organizations.

Thompson said the tax break effectively promoted giving during the pandemic but that it needs to be in place as soon as possible to have an impact in the face of surging cases and restrictions. The incentive won’t work retroactively because people don’t give extra holding out hope for a tax break, he said.

“The tax incentives do work,” Thompson said. “Right now more is needed.”

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Roll Call

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https://rollcall.com/2022/01/26/charities-lobbying-to-restore-expanded-t...