This week, Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced bipartisan legislation to expand and extend the expired non-itemized deduction for charitable giving.

The bill, called the Charitable Act [PDF], would allow all taxpayers who do not itemize to claim a deduction of up to one-third of the value of the standard deduction for charitable contributions, which would be around $4,500 for individuals and $9,000 for married joint filers. The standard deductions for tax year 2023 are $13,850 for individuals and $27,700 for married joint filers.

“Our families, our churches and other nonprofits are the first and most important safety net for the most vulnerable in our communities,” Lankford said in a press release. “Our nonprofits provide our neighborhoods and families vital job training, compassionate homeless assistance, food in times of crisis, and spiritual counsel during our best and worst days. As Oklahomans and Americans donate their time, money, and resources to our nation’s nonprofits so they can serve people, they should be able to deduct more from their federal taxes as an incentive to financially support nonprofits since these services are often in place of government benefits.”

“In Delaware and across our nation, we’ve always stepped up in extraordinary ways to meet the needs of our communities,” Coons said in a press release. “People of all means gave freely to charities, houses of worship and other nonprofits last year to the tune of $449 billion last year. I am proud to have worked on the Charitable Act that will expand and extend the deductions Americans can claim to encourage even more Americans to embrace the civic virtue of charitable giving.”

The Charitable Act is cosponsored by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

The bill is also supported by numerous nonprofits and coalitions, including the Charitable Giving Coalition, Independent Sector, Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the National Council of Nonprofits.

In a February 27 letter to Lanford and Koons [PDF], the National Council of Nonprofits and several of their networks expressed “enthusiastic endorsement” of the Charitable Act.

“The needs in our communities are far greater than the ability of governments to address alone,” they wrote. “The Charitable Act would empower millions more taxpayers to help solve those challenges by donating more to the work of charitable organizations in their communities.”

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