June 28, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
Charity Tax Credits: Federal Policy and Three Leading States, by Margy Waller, discusses the consequences of carrying out President Bush’s proposal to create state charity tax credits for donations to antipoverty programs by allowing states to pay for the cost of the credit with money from their welfare block grants. Ms. Waller, former senior adviser on welfare and working families for President Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council, examines existing state credits in Arizona, Michigan, and North Carolina. The experience of those state programs suggests, according to Ms. Waller, that charity tax credits do not increase charitable giving, that they shift accountability for financing antipoverty efforts from government to individuals, and that they would probably harm low-income families and organizations that serve high-poverty neighborhoods. More study of the proposal is necessary, she concludes, but “no matter what design of the credit may be chosen, it is nevertheless unlikely that the proposal would be in the best interest of poor families and children.” The paper was prepared with a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and is available in portable document format at http://www.pewforum.org/publications/articles/charitytaxcredits.pdf.
Publisher: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 1150 18th Street, N.W., Suite 775, Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 955-5075; fax (202) 955-0658; http://www.pewforum.org; 26 pages; free.
