Even as Election Day draws closer, another contest is high on the minds of many legislators in Washington, D.C. – a “Super Bowl of Tax” in 2025. And one senator recently reminded his colleagues that charitable giving incentives are going to be part of that conversation.
During a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week setting the stage for next year’s deliberations, Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) noted a significant decrease in Americans itemizing on their annual tax forms and highlighted bipartisan efforts to reinstitute a charitable deduction to honor the generosity of non-itemizers.
He told his colleagues on the committee that this is “one thing… we’ll talk about a lot next year because I’m going to continually bring it up.”
Lankford and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) are spearheading The Charitable Act, which would allow non-itemizing charitable givers to claim a deduction worth up to one-third the standard deduction—more than $4,800 for individuals or $9,700 for joint filers in 2024.
Already supported by nearly a quarter of the Senate, this bill (and its similarly bipartisan companion led by Reps. Blake Moore (R-Utah), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), and Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in the House of Representatives) builds on a previously successful pandemic-era experiment that had allowed a $300 above-the-line benefit for donations ($600 for married couples filing jointly). That small step helped fuel much-needed increases in giving in 2020 and 2021.
Sadly, Congress allowed that boost for giving to expire, but Lankford is urging its return. Pointing to three “safety nets” for society – family, churches & nonprofits, and government – the senator declared, “Whatever we can do to incentivize people to be able to actually support both families and the safety nets of those nonprofits helps all Americans.”
Churches and ministries that are members of ECFA know the value of individuals who selflessly give time and treasure to advance their Christ-honoring missions. Convinced that the government should honor and encourage all givers, ECFA will continue to be a voice in support of this important legislation.