How tax reform could hit charitable giving

How tax reform could hit charitable giving

Plenty of factors can motivate charitable giving: Moral obligation, religious tithing, a desire to improve the world or leave a legacy.

But another factor — the tax benefits for giving — could soon change if lawmakers push through tax reform.

Few people donate simply because of the tax breaks and are unlikely to stop giving altogether if they don’t get any. But analyses from the Congressional Budget Office and others have found that tax incentives typically increase how much you choose to donate — whether in life or at death.

That’s why Republican proposals to reduce or eliminate key tax breaks for giving has charity experts a little concerned. Specifically, President Trump and House Republicans have proposed to nearly double the standard deduction, lower income tax rates and repeal the estate tax.

Though it’s assumed the charitable deduction would remain in place, increasing the standard deduction would mean far fewer people would itemize and be able to claim the break, while lowering tax rates would make the deduction worth less for those who still take it.

The double whammy of doubling the standard deduction while lowering the top rate to 35% from 39.6% could reduce giving by between $5 billion and $13 billion a year, or up to 4.6%, according to a recent study by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Of those two changes, increasing the standard deduction has the greatest negative effect because it would reduce those who itemize to just 5% of filers, down from 30% today. That’s because the only reason to itemize is if your deductions combined exceed the value of the standard deduction.

“The 25% who used to itemize will probably give some but not as much,” said David Thompson, vice president of policy at the National Council of Nonprofits.

Read more of this article: http://cnnmon.ie/2iSuHtF

Shared from: cnn.com