CAA News Today

In addition to Katrina relief appropriations, Congress has passed a tax relief package for disaster survivors along with a tax incentive package for charitable giving to all nonprofits. In order to help ensure that charitable giving to non-Katrina causes does not suffer, Congress passed an emergency tax bill that significantly raises the charitable deduction limits on individual gifts for the rest of this calendar year. Under previous law, individuals could deduct cash gifts up to 50 percent of their income. Now through December 31, 2005, individuals may deduct up to 100 percent of their income for both Katrina and non-Katrina causes. Obviously, this affects only people who are wealthy enough to give away so much of their annual income. Nevertheless, the bill should result in increased giving, both to hurricane-related and to other causes.

Source: Americans for the Arts