Charitable giving would take a hit

Philanthropy Ohio has serious concerns about the U.S. House and Senate tax proposals because of their potential harm to charitable giving and to those that philanthropy serves — our country’s low- and middle-income workers and families.

Both bills eliminate a number of deductions and credits, while doubling the standard deduction. The charitable-giving deduction, which has existed for 100 years, remains for those who would choose to itemize deductions and credits on their tax forms, but it is estimated that only the top 5 percent of taxpayers will itemize if the bill passes.

A study by the Tax Policy Center last week estimated that charities would lose between $12 billion and $18 billion next year because of the tax bill’s effective elimination of the charitable incentive for donating to nonprofits. Here in Ohio, the top 5 percent of donors gave about $2 billion to charities in 2015, out of the $5.8 billion given overall.

We call on Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown to support creating a universal deduction for gifts to charity within the current Senate tax-reform bill; without such a tax incentive, charitable giving could decrease dramatically, with devastating impact on the ability of nonprofits to help those most in need here in central Ohio and beyond.

It is critical to recognize that philanthropy cannot fill the needs — here in Ohio or nationwide — created as a result of the many provisions negatively impacting charitable giving and low- and middle-income workers and families. Ohio’s foundations, United Ways and other public charities gave more than $2 billion to nonprofits in 2015, the highest on record but insufficient to fill anticipated gaps should the tax bills pass in their current forms.