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Tax Incentives for Charity: An Overview of Legislative Proposals, Date: September 2, 2003 1 (September 2, 2003)

handle is hein.tera/crstax0062 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21144
Updated September 2, 2003
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Tax Incentives for Charity:
An Overview of Legislative Proposals
Jane G. Gravelle
Senior Specialist in Economic Policy
Government and Finance Division
Summary
This reports briefly discusses the tax provisions of the Community Solutions Act
(H.R. 7, which passed the House on July 19, 2001). A similar bill, also H.R. 7, was
introduced in the 108th Congress. Provisions include charitable deductions for non-
itemizers, rollovers of IRAs into charitable uses, a reduction in the excise tax on private
foundation income, an increase in the deductions cap for corporate contributions, and
several narrower provisions relating to business contributions of property and charitable
remainder trusts. In 2002, the Senate Finance Committee also reported a substitute that
included a number of similar provisions (The CARE Act of 2002), along with some
revenue offsets (user fees and corporate tax shelters), which never saw floor action. A
similar bill, S. 476. has been adopted by the Senate on April 9, 2003.
The Community Solutions Act of 2001 (H.R. 7), adopted in 2001 by the House, had
eight new tax provisions designed to benefit charitable giving. The bill also contained
provisions relating to charitable choice (religious organizations' role in administering
government programs).' The Joint Committee on Taxation projected a revenue loss of
$13.3 billion over 10 years ($2.4 billion annually when fully phased in). The President
had proposed three of these tax provisions in his original 2001 tax proposal, but these
provisions were not included in the 2001 tax cut (P.L. 107-16). The President continued
to propose revisions; his FY2004 tax proposals included most of these provisions but did
not include the increase in limits for corporate contributions. S. 1924, introduced in the
107th Congress by Senators Lieberman and Santorum after discussion with the President,
would provide a temporary non-itemizers deduction with a higher cap. The Senate Finance
Committee reported out a version of the bill on June 18, 2002, the CARE Act of 2002,
with a temporary non-itemizers deduction with both a floor and ceiling. It excluded some
provisions of H.R. 7 but contained others. A similar bill, S. 476 estimated to cost $11
billion over 10 years was passed by the Senate on April 9, 2003.

Congressional Research Service A+ The Library of Congress

' For a discussion of charitable choice provisions, see CRS Report RS20948, Charitable Choice
Provisions ofHR. 7.

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