The Winkler Group joins with the Giving Institute in a special request to all philanthropy professionals.
As we know, "The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act" does not include any provision to address the significant loss of charitable contributions as consequence of changes to the standard deduction.
The House is expected to vote on their bill on Thursday, November 16. We ask that you consider a call AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to your House member and their Chiefs of Staff, asking them to put pressure to either vote NO on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) or include a provision that would offset the projected losses in charitable giving.
The message is simple, and please feel free to use these bullet points if you don't already have your own:
- Charities could see a staggering loss of up to $13.1 billion in contributions annually, under the tax reform proposal
- Doubling the standard deduction threshold will dramatically reduce the number of taxpayers who benefit from the charitable deduction
- As many 30 million taxpayers who itemized in 2016 will no longer have the charitable giving incentive available to them and will be taxed on their gifts
- Last week, the Senate Joint Committee on Taxation confirmed the new standard deduction structure will have dire consequences, dramatically reducing the number of taxpayers who benefit from the charitable deduction and reducing the amount of charitable gifts that taxpayers deduct by nearly $100 billion
- This loss in charitable giving will generate significant, negative consequences for America's charitable organizations and the constituents they serve
- Ask them to weigh in NOW and assert pressure for a charitable giving incentive for non-itemizing taxpayers, a universal charitable deduction available to all taxpayers
Furthermore, if your Senator is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, we'd ask you to consider calling them to support the Wyden/Stabenow amendment.
Ask them to vote yes on an amendment introduced by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) that would allow an above-the-line deduction for charitable contributions. The maximum deduction would be limited to 60% of modified adjusted gross income and would phase out at higher income levels (by 3% for every dollar of taxable income above $266,700 for single taxpayers, $320,000 for Married, and $293,550 for head of household).
The next call to action will be before the Senate votes on final passage, which could be the week after Thanksgiving.
Thank you.
