Monday, November 24, 2014

As Congress returned to session following the midterm elections, Americans for the Arts and Americans for the Arts' Action Fund joined more than 1,000 organizations from across the nonprofit sector in sending a letter to all 535 Members of Congress to advocate for permanent enactment of the charitable tax provisions within any year-end tax extenders work. The timely letter comes as Congress continues to have reached no agreement on whether to take up the more than 50 expired tax provisions, including the IRA Charitable Rollover that lapsed at the end of 2013. The IRA Charitable Rollover is an important funding source for arts organizations and a key tax incentive for charitable giving.

Congress faces increasingly narrowing time for action this session. All the while, Members of Congress have debated one-year and two-year extensions, permanency, final expiration, or some combination thereof.

Making permanent the IRA Charitable Rollover has been a key legislative goal of Americans for the Arts for the last decade, as the current cycle of expiration and reinstatement has left many donors and nonprofit arts organizations unable to maximize their community impact. Now, the opportunity to make charitable giving provisions permanent has never been closer: Bipartisan legislation was introduced in both the House and the Senate earlier this session, and the House passed all of the charitable tax extenders on a permanent basis in July. Together, these actions strengthen ongoing negotiations for the potential inclusion of these charitable provisions in what may soon be a year-end tax deal.