FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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WASHINGTON – Today, the House Ways and Means Committee released its long-awaited reconciliation bill that includes an extension of President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Unfortunately, the proposed legislation includes a tax hike on private charitable foundations to help pay for it. Currently, the excise tax on all charitable foundations is 1.39%.
A breakdown of how the proposed tax increase will be structured is below. You can review the full bill here.
- $0 to $50 million in assets: 1.39%
- $50 million to $250 million in assets: 2.78%
- $250 million to $5 billion in assets: 5%
- Over $5 billion in assets: 10%
As our team digests the details of the legislation, please see the following initial statement from Philanthropy Roundtable President & CEO Christie Herrera:
“Extending President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts is a laudable effort that will put more money in Americans’ pockets and drive the economy forward. We know that economic prosperity fuels American generosity, and there are thousands of charitable foundations that have been putting Americans first for generations.
“The government cannot and should not attempt to meet all the needs of our nation’s communities—this is where private foundations have stepped in and stepped up, time and again. The government simply does not know how to invest these dollars better than the hardworking, generous Americans who earned them. Allowing the IRS to snatch charitable dollars out of communities and the hands of Americans in need, and instead, funnel those dollars to the U.S Treasury to pay for Uncle Sam’s out-of-control spending habit is not something that advocates of limited government and individual freedom should get behind.
“For decades, conservatives have championed local, private solutions to our nation’s greatest challenges with philanthropy as a key partner. The proposed tax hike on foundations would reduce the resources available for effective charitable groups advancing liberty, opportunity and personal responsibility—harming Americans in every state. It means fewer dollars for educational opportunities for low-income students, groups focused on preventing veteran suicide, foster care organizations that help keep families together, food banks, homeless shelters, disaster relief organizations, faith-based charities, and many other critical programs and services in communities big and small. This is devastating for charitable giving and the millions of Americans who rely on it—and who will be hit the hardest.”
Philanthropy Roundtable is a community of hundreds of charitable donors around the country committed to strengthening our free society. The Roundtable will be educating charitable donors and policymakers about the disastrous consequences that higher taxes on private foundations would have on the charitable sector and country as a whole. We will release additional resources in the coming days.
More from Philanthropy Roundtable on this issue:
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