Fiscal Cliff Leaves Non-Profits on Edge
By Alex Rogers
Charities are worried this may be the last season of giving.
As Congress grapples with tax reform and deficit reduction, lawmakers are looking at limiting some long-standing tax deductions, including the one for charitable giving, as a way to raise revenue.
Don’t Eliminate the Charitable Tax Deduction
By Larry Snyder and Brian Gallagher
Brian Gallagher is president and CEO of United Way Worldwide. Father Larry Snyder is president of Catholic Charities USA.
The season of giving is a time to focus on what we hold dear. Hurricane Sandy certainly demonstrated that what we take for granted is what we miss most when it is taken from us. As leaders of nonprofits providing a broad cross-section of services to our communities, we worry this might be the case with the charitable tax deduction.
President Obama and Congress are considering caps or cuts to the 100-year-old tax benefit for those who give to charities and redirecting these dollars to federal coffers. Doing away with the charitable deduction at a time when people are still reeling from the recession and facing the consequences of government cutbacks is bad timing and bad logic. In short, fewer charitable dollars and government cutbacks are a double hit to those who need help the most.