Write-Offs: Bills to Eliminate Estate Tax and Encourage Gifts for Medical Research

* The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would eventually repeal federal estate and gift taxes and eliminate the accompanying deduction for charitable bequests. The measure, HR 8, would gradually take effect during a 10-year period. Some fund raisers have argued that elimination of the estate tax could cause a significant decline in major gifts from the estates of wealthy donors. The reason: Some donors have been motivated to give as a way to reduce the amount of estate taxes they pay. The Senate now will debate the bill.

* Congress is considering legislation that is aimed at increasing the amount of money individuals donate for medical research. The bills, promoted by House and Senate sponsors in both parties, would allow people who give to such causes to write off donations on their taxes that equal up to 80 per cent of their adjusted gross incomes each year; donors are currently limited to a charitable deduction of no more than 50 percent of their incomes. The measures, HR 4719 and S 2776, also would encourage people to donate recently acquired stock to medical-research groups by waiving the taxes now associated with such gifts.