Charitable Giving Coalition Lobbies for Non-itemizer Charitable Contribution Deduction

Here are a few paragraphs from a December 3, 2024 letter to Ways and Means, and Finance from the Charitable Giving Coalition:

The doubling of the standard deduction, a policy designed to simplify tax filing for most Americans, has had the unintended consequence of leading to a permanent reduction in charitable giving by American households who no longer itemize. According to the American Enterprise Institute, the change in TCJA meant a reduction of $252 billion in itemized charitable contributions between 2018 and 2021. 

Since 1917, when the tax deduction for charitable giving was first enacted to enable charities to survive during World War I, individuals in the United States have a unique history of being encouraged to support any qualified charity of their choice as long as they itemized their taxes. In our comments, we will discuss how the charitable deduction is good tax policy, the impact of the TCJA on charitable giving, how the temporary charitable deduction for non-itemizers enacted by Congress in 2020 and 2021 was effective in incentivizing new donations and donors, and the negative impact on giving since that temporary provision expired.

The CGC asks Congress to support a proven solution as you consider tax reform and extending or modifying aspects of the TCJA. Permanently enacting the bipartisan Charitable Act (H.R. 3435/S.566), legislation that would restore a charitable deduction for all American taxpayers, would build on the success of the 2020-2021 temporary charitable deduction for non-itemizers by incentivizing generous Americans to give even more to charities of all types and sizes. And it would make access to a charitable-giving incentive more democratic, providing the same support for lower- and middle-income Americans to give more to charity that the tax code currently provides only to the more affluent.

Most importantly, the Charitable Act will incentivize all Americans, regardless of income, to give more to support local soup kitchens, homeless and domestic abuse shelters, disaster relief organizations, schools, cultural organizations, and religious congregations and ministries—among innumerable other crucial charities.

darryll k. jones