January 23, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
President Bush’s effort to persuade Congress to pass tax cuts to stimulate the economy may steal attention from long-sought charitable tax incentives, charity representatives say.
Among the tax incentives that charities had hoped would pass this year: a plan to allow people who do not itemize their taxes to deduct gifts to charity. The Senate Finance Committee remains committed to passing such a write-off, charity representatives say, but members of the House Ways and Means Committee, including the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, Republican of California, are expected to continue to oppose it. Tax legislation must originate in the House.
Still, some lobbyists hope that at least a few charitable tax incentives could be included in a bigger tax-cut bill. Chief among these is a provision to allow donors to give money to charity directly from their individual retirement accounts without incurring taxes. President Bush is expected to include the provision, which has strong support from colleges, hospitals, and other influential nonprofit groups, again this year in the budget request he submits to Congress next month.
“The IRA rollover is likely to have every chance of passing this year,” said Sheldon E. Steinbach, vice president of the American Council on Education, a coalition of colleges and universities.
But Mr. Steinbach noted that because of the drop in the stock market, the provision is likely to be worth far less to charity than it was estimated to be worth two years ago when Congress started considering the idea. Then it was projected to produce $1.9-billion for charities over 10 years. “There are significantly less resources in people’s IRA’s to give,” he said.
