Opinion: Charities Should Back Obama Jobs Bill Despite Deduction Cap

Charities fighting President Obama’s proposal to cap tax breaks on giving by high-income donors are “acting to protect the narrowest fiscal interests” of big organizations rather than considering the common good, a nonprofit watchdog writes in the Huffington Post.

Aaron Dorfman, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, says the White House proposal would not significantly dent giving and “promotes fairness in the tax code, which in the long run, benefits nonprofits and the public.”

The president’s plan would reduce from 35 percent to 28 percent the tax deduction on charitable gifts for individuals earning more than $200,000.

The higher deduction means taxpayers “end up subsidizing multimillion-dollar gifts to already well-endowed universities” rather than supporting smaller donations to community social-service, advocacy, and arts groups, Mr. Dorfman writes. “This is patently unfair.”

See more coverage of the president’s proposal in The Chronicle’s Government & Politics Watch blog.