Legislative Update

May 7, 2021

Earlier this week, the House Ways & Means Committee approved HR 2954, Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, bipartisan retirement legislation that builds on 2019’s SECURE Act (PL 116-94).  Notably, HR 2954 includes a limited version of the Legacy IRA Act (S. 243) that would expand the current-law IRA Charitable Rollover to allow for life-income gifts.  HR 2954 now heads to the full House for consideration, although timing is uncertain. 

Specifically, Section 309 of HR 2954 provides for a one-time $50,000 distribution to charities through charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts.  The section would also index for inflation the annual IRA charitable distribution limit of $100,000.  CGP is advocating for the Legacy IRA Act as part of a national coalition of nearly 50 nonprofits.

HR 2954 also makes a number of other changes to the laws governing retirement savings.  For example, the legislation further increases the minimum age for required distributions to 75, which would be gradually phased in over a decade. 

The American Families Plan

On April 28, President Biden announced The American Families Plan. This expansive proposal has many provisions affecting taxation and tax policy.

View the Plan

National Coalition Advocates for the IRA Legacy Act

Spearheaded by the American Heart Association a coalition of more than 50 leading national nonprofit organizations are advocating for the passing of the Legacy IRA Act. With bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, efforts are underway to have the bill included in the "Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021."

See Details Here

Expanded Universal Charitable Deduction Bills Introduced

On March 9^th S. 618 was introduced into the Senate by Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma and H.R. 1704 was introduced into the House of Representatives by Representative Chris Pappas of New Hampshire. The bill titled Universal Giving Pandemic Response and Recovery Act would allow taxpayers who claim the standard deduction, rather than itemizing deductions, on their tax returns to take a deduction for charitable giving valued at up to one-third of the standard deduction (around $4,000 for an individual filer and $8,000 for married joint filers). This added giving incentive would be available for tax years 2021 and 2022.

Charitable Beneficiary IRA Distribution Resource Center

In a recent CGP survey 43% of organizations stated they experienced difficulty in collecting beneficiary proceeds from one or more IRA administrators. This is a matter of great concern to nonprofit organizations across the country. Many individuals and organizations are working to improve the timely distribution of beneficiary proceeds from financial institutions. Through awareness, advocacy and the collection of valuable information to assist organizations, they have created a number of resources to expedite distributions and promote change in institutional policy. The goal of the center is to organize the results of their efforts in one location to benefit the entire nonprofit sector.

View Resource Center

Reforming the Charitable Deduction Report

November 3, 2019

The Joint Economic Committee of the United State Congress has released a new report; Reforming the Charitable Deduction. This is an important bipartisan report on charitable giving that includes analysis on trends in U.S. charitable giving, an insightful overview of the charitable deduction and most importantly possible reforms to make the charitable deduction more equitable to all taxpayers. 

View Full Report

CGP Public Policy Platform

The CGP Board of Directors has a Public Policy Platform that serves to guide CGP advocacy activities in support of the charitable giving community and the broader nonprofit sector.

CGP's Platform