Write-Offs: New Bill Proposed on Gift Receipts and a Watchdog Group Calls for Inquiry in Gingrich Tax Case

* U.S. Sen. Michael B. Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, has introduced a bill that would give taxpayers more time to obtain receipts for certain charitable contributions. Under a federal law that took effect in 1994, donors must obtain receipts from charities for gifts of $250 or more by the date they file their tax returns. Senator Enzi’s bill, S 435, would allow donors to file their returns — and claim the deductions — before getting the receipts, as long as taxpayers obtained the acknowledgments within three years, with some exceptions. Mr. Enzi said that current law “places an unwarranted burden” on people trying to help charities.

* The Congressional Accountability Project, a Washington watchdog group, has asked the Treasury Department’s acting inspector general for tax administration to examine the I.R.S.’s recent decision that the Progress & Freedom Foundation think tank did nothing wrong when it sponsored a college course once offered by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The I.R.S.’s ruling and “flawed investigation raise questions about whether political considerations, meddling, or intimidation improperly affected the I.R.S.’s investigative and decision-making processes,” the group said.