Charity Tax-Cut Bill Falls Short of House Passage

After the White House threatened to veto an $11-billion bill that would make permanent three tax breaks for charitable donations, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the measure, Bloomberg reports.

The 275-149 vote in favor of the measure left it eight votes short of the two-thirds’ margin necessary under an expedited procedure. The bill would have provided tax incentives, which expired at the end of 2013, for donations of food, money from retirement accounts, and conservation easements.

All House Republicans voted for the bill, but Democrats split, with opponents citing the measure’s lack of budget offsets and concerns that its passage would set a precedent for extending other temporary policies. A separate measure providing for a short-term extension of the tax breaks already passed the House.