New U.S. Tax Law Could Curb Charitable Donations

The tax bill currently meandering its way through Congress may inadvertently impact end-of-year charitable giving. Many taxpayers wait until late December to provide their donations to charity in order to make the timing cut-off for taking a deduction in that tax year. With standard deductions likely going up, these last-minute donors have less incentive to itemize their deductions, which may lead to fewer gifts to charities. The increase and possible abrogation of the estate tax may also negatively affect donations to charity, as fewer high-net-worth taxpayers will be concerned with the tax consequences of passing their estate on to their beneficiaries.

See Beth Pinsker, New U.S. Tax Law Could Curb Charitable Donations, Reuters, November 30, 2017.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.