Can Florida's 70,642 nonprofit organizations afford to lose up to
$659 million annually in charitable contributions?
That is what is projected to happen if the final tax reform bill does not change.
Will you make a phone call TODAY?
Florida has one member of Congress who will serve on the conference committee of U.S. senators and representatives to negotiate the final tax reform bill that is scheduled for a vote within the next week. Florida CongresswomanKathy Castor who represents parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties will serve on the conference committee.
Today, her office needs to hear from her constituents and others throughout Florida.
Please call or fax or email Congresswoman Kathy Castor's office TODAY; and please do not put off this simple, but important action. The tax reform conference committee could finish its work as early as tomorrow.
If you live in her Hillsborough or Pinellas county district, you can email her, but if you live outside of her district, your email will not be sent. You will have to call or fax her office with the suggested message.
Suggested message to deliver
to her office TODAY:
1. My name is _________ and I'm a (select one: Florida resident OR live in Congresswoman's Castor's district).
2. The purpose of my call is to ask her to please speak up during the tax reform conference to help stop the projected loss of up
to $24 billion annually in charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations.
The impact in Florida would be devastating -- our state has 70,642 nonprofits that employ 466,719 people and the tax reform bills as currently written would cost these Florida nonprofits annually about $659 million in charitable contributions.* These organizations' programs and services are dependent upon charitable contributions.
3. As a conferee, please ask her to support the Universal Charitable Deduction (S.2123/H.R. 3988) as a policy solution OR revise the final tax reform bill
to protect giving by extending the charitable deduction to all taxpayers, not just 5% of the U.S. population.
4. I know she supports the programs and services of our nonprofit organizations; we hope she will speak up during conference about the unintended consequences
of the tax reform bills on the nonprofit sector and suggest corrections in the bill's final version.
5. Thank you for sharing my concerns and recommendations with the Congresswoman.
*
Source: Internal Revenue Service, Urban Institute, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Indiana University School of Philanthropy Notes: Average deduction for tax year 2015. Charitable donations at risk calculated by distributing national donation reduction by state's percent of total deducted charitable donations in 2015.
We need to unite and speak up throughout this
process to let our policy makers know the impact
the tax reform bill will have on our nonprofit industry.
If they do not hear from us, they will not know that
this issue matters to us and to those we serve.
Please follow through today on this simple request.
