Scott, Lankford, Coons, Colleagues Advocate for More Charitable Giving to America’s Nonprofits, Houses of Worship, Religious Organizations, and Charities

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and eight of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Charitable Act to expand and extend the expired non-itemized deduction for charitable giving, which will ensure that Americans who donate to charities, houses of worship, religious organizations, and other nonprofits of their choice are able to deduct that donation from their federal taxes at a higher level than the previous $300 deduction.  

Specifically, the bill would make available to taxpayers, who do not itemize on their tax return, a below-the-line deduction for charitable giving on federal income taxes valued at up to one-third of the standard deduction (around $4,500 for an individual filer and around $9,000 for married joint filers). The standard deductions for tax year 2023 are $13,850 for individual filers and those married filing separately and $27,700 for married joint filers.

“Nonprofit organizations, churches, and other charities are on the front lines of providing essential support to those in need in South Carolina and around the country,” said Senator Scott. “This important piece of legislation will ensure American families – not Washington bureaucrats – are able to decide themselves how their money and resources are spent supporting their communities.”

“Our families, our churches and other nonprofits are the first and most important safety net for the most vulnerable in our communities,” said Lankford. “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,” said Coons. “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 bill is supported by numerous nonprofits including YMCA, United Way, Goodwill Industries, and the American Heart Association in addition to coalitions of thousands of nonprofits including the Charitable Giving Coalition (175 member organizations), the National Council of Nonprofits (25,000 member organizations), Leadership18, the Nonprofit Alliance, United Philanthropy Forum, the National Philanthropic Trust, Jewish Federations of North America, Independent Sector, Philanthropy Southwest, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and the Faith & Giving Coalition.

“United Way is a global network of neighbors helping neighbors – from fighting for access to education to responding when disaster strikes,” said Angela F. Williams, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide. “Nonprofits like ours are on the frontlines of addressing community needs, and we rely on the generous donations of everyday Americans to carry out our mission. I am proud to support the bipartisan Charitable Act, which will make it easier and fairer for Americans to give back to their communities and the charitable causes they support.”

Senators Scott, Lankford, and Coons were joined by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Raphael Warnock (R-Ga.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).