The Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act of 2002/2003/2004

UPDATE: (Aug 2004) Yes, this bill is still sitting around unapproved, now part of the JOBS Bill. My hope is some of the politicians trying to get re-elected will actually try to push this through before the November election to prove to their constituents they are actually doing something "good".

Amazing, Congress has a nice bill here that allows people who do not itemize to deduct up to $250 per person (for amounts over $250). That means a married couple who contributes $1000 can get to deduct $500 from their taxable income. After the recent tax cut that shot the standard deduction for the married filing jointly status to $9,500 (now $9,700 in 2004), this is a way for many people to actually get some tax benefit from charitable contributions, especially some of us who used to itemize and deduct our contributions but who no longer itemize due to the increased standard deduction. It still is not fair compared to what itemizers get, but it is better than nothing.

Another nice part of this bill is people over 70 1/2 can donate from their IRA's and pay no taxes on withdrawals. They could use those donations to fund a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust and those earned and accumulated funds will never have been taxed at all (much like can be done with appreciated securities used in similar ways.)

So everybody should contact their senators and get them to pass this bill! I do not see any downside and it helps both taxpayers and the charities that need the money.

Hugh
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