Study: Rep. Camp’s Tax Plan Could Cut Giving by $34-Billion

A new analysis of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s tax-reform proposal predicts it would reduce U.S. charitable giving by 7 percent to 14 percent, The Hill reports. That could mean up to $34-billion in lost donations, based on last year’s total giving of $240-billion, according to the study from the Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy.

Nonprofit leaders have focused on Mr. Camp’s proposed limits on charitable deductions, but the study says broader changes in the Michigan Republican’s plan—such a bigger standard deduction that would reduce the number of people who itemize—would have a greater impact on donations. The congressman has argued that his overhaul would boost philanthropy because a streamlined tax code will stimulate economic growth.

The Camp plan, released in February, won little support on Capitol Hill, even from his fellow Republicans, in part because it would sacrifice politically popular tax breaks to achieve lower overall rates.

Read a Chronicle of Philanthropy opinion column on how deduction limits could affect charitable giving.