PAA recently joined the Alliance for Charitable Reform, Independent Sector, and other nonprofit advocates on Capitol Hill to talk to lawmakers about the impact of charitable giving tax policies on our sector. Advocates met with several House and Senate staff to encourage support for legislation around the charitable deduction, IRA Rollover expansion, and donor-advised funds.

The timing was appropriate as House republicans released an outline of tax reform priorities last week. The so-called “blueprint” eliminates all deductions except the charitable and mortgage interest deductions, among other changes that may have both a positive and negative impact on charitable giving. Legislative action is not expected this year, however PAA will continue to advocate towards preserving the full scope and value of charitable giving incentives.

Here is an overview of recently introduced legislation:

The Charities Helping Americans Regularly Throughout the Year Act (CHARITY) (S. 2750) was introduced by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in April 2016. The goal of this bill is to ensure that charities are not negatively impacted when Congress takes on tax reform. The CHARITY Act encourages the Senate to preserve the full scope and value of the charitable deduction during upcoming tax reform efforts. It includes several other provisions, such as allowing IRA charitable rollover contributions to donor-advised funds and requiring nonprofits to file their Form 990 electronically.

The Public Good IRA Rollover Act (S.1159) introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was introduced in April 2015. The act would lift the current $100,000 cap on gifts from IRAs and would lower the distribution age to 59 ½. Currently, donors must be age 70 ½ to take a distribution. This act would encourage donors to give more to charities, including nonprofit arts organizations. The IRA Rollover was made a permanent charitable giving incentive in December 2015.

Legislation involving the IRA Rollover was also recently introduced in the House. The Grow Philanthropy Act (H.R. 4907) would expand the IRA charitable rollover to allow donors to make distributions to donor-advised funds (DAFs). These funds are a unique philanthropic tool that allow donors to establish charitable accounts at institutions, such as community foundations, and remain involved in supporting the issues and causes they care about.

PAA will keep you posted on these and other pieces of legislation impacting the nonprofit arts sector as Congress aims for comprehensive tax reform.