U.S. Sen. James Lankford urged Congress on Tuesday to move forward with restoring tax credits for Americans that donate to nonprofits.
In a message released on Giving Tuesday, Lankford said the Charitable Act, which he introduced, would incentivize donations and support for nonprofits. Giving Tuesday is a worldwide event the Tuesday after Thanksgiving designed to inspire generosity and giving.
The Republican congressman said he supports the bipartisan effort to “expand and extend the expired non-itemized deductions” for Americans that donate to “charities, houses of worship, religious organizations, and other nonprofits.”
Lankford is joined by senators from Delaware, Nevada, Florida, New Hampshire, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota, Michigan and South Carolina who voiced their support in March 2023 when the measure was introduced.
“For several years we worked to build bipartisan support for it, to be able to give tax credits for those individuals that give to nonprofits,” Lankford said in a recorded statement. “We don’t have that anymore, except for itemizers. We want to be able to fix that. In the days ahead, we will get that fixed.”
The bill would allow taxpayers to deduct donations from their federal taxes at a higher level, according to a news release.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increased the standard deduction, which the United Philanthropy Forum said in turn reduced the number of people who itemize and access the charitable deduction. The group said over 90% of taxpayers do not itemize, which reduces the incentive to donate.
Currently, if a taxpayer doesn’t itemize, they cannot deduct charitable donations. The bill would expand the tax deduction to people who don’t itemize their taxes and allow them to receive a deduction valued at up to a third of the standard deduction.
The standard deductions for the 2023 tax year are $13,850 for individual filers and those married but filing separately. For married joint filers, it is $27,700, according to a news release.
Hundreds of organizations have endorsed the bill, including the YMCA, Goodwill Industries, the Charitable Giving Coalition and the National Council of Nonprofits.
The Charitable Giving Coalition sent a letter to Congress Tuesday, urging the body to pass the bill. It was signed by over 450 organizations.
“Permanently enacting the bipartisan Charitable Act legislation that would restore a charitable deduction for all American taxpayers, would build on the success of the 2020-21 temporary charitable deduction for non-itemizers by incentivizing generous Americans to give even more to charities of all types and sizes,” said Brian Flahaven, chair of the organization, in a letter. “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.”
Congress is expected to consider the nation’s tax structure during President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming administration.
