In 2015, Americans donated a record $373.25 billion in charitable contributions, up a little more than 4 percent from the year before, according to Giving USA, the most reliable chronicler of philanthropy. Giving should also be helped if the Republicans engineer huge tax cuts, primarily for the wealthy — which is likely — because the richest are responsible for a growing percentage of charitable contributions. But studies by the Congressional Budget Office and Treasury have suggested that repeal would cut into charitable giving. “Repeal will reduce charitable giving, the only issue is how much,” said Michael Graetz, a Columbia University law professor who was assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy in the George H.W. Bush administration and has written a book on the estate tax.

Source: Washington Post November 28, 2016 00:11 UTC