Yesterday, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, unveiled his much anticipated Healthcare Reform bill. We would like to thank Senator Baucus for excluding from the revenue section of the bill, a tax code that would lower the rate of charitable deductions for taxpayers who earn more than $250,000. This legislation was initially offered by the Administration and the IPA immediately championed its defeat.

Under the administration’s proposal, taxpayers earning more than $250,000 would have their ability to deduct charitable contributions reduced to 28 percent from the current rate of 35 percent. This may greatly reduce the amount of charitable donations across the board, as a disproportionate amount of charitable donations are given by those in higher tax brackets.

We commend Chairman Baucus as well as other Members that stood with our organization on this issue including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y-15), Scott Garrett (R-NJ-5), Ron Klein (D-FL-22) and Shelley Berkley (D-NV-1).