No Restoration of the Non-Itemizer Charitable Deduction

No clear path has emerged for passage of a bipartisan tax bill, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (HR 7024). The bill that passed in the House by wide margins would expand the refundable child tax credit, restore three tax benefits for businesses that had been repealed or reduced in the 2017 tax law, remove tax liability for payments to victims of recent natural and manmade disasters, and increase subsidies for affordable housing. The legislation does not yet include restoration of the non-itemizer (universal) charitable deduction, an expired incentive that had provided taxpayers claiming the standard deduction the opportunity to get a tax break for donating to the work of charitable organizations.