House Passes Bill that Could Encourage Charitable Giving

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that provided a series of tax breaks for charitable donations.

Two of those tax breaks could help non-profit music and arts organizations:

One provision allows for people over the age of 70 to donate directly from their individual retirement accounts, eliminating the tax on that IRA distribution.
Another provision allows those who make charitable contributions after the end of a tax year to claim it on that year’s tax return if they make the donation before April 15.

The bill next goes to the Senate and, if passed, to the President to be signed in to law.

While this is potentially positive news for donors and recipients in music education, as one columnist with Inside Philanthropy notes, “Perhaps if public schools were fully funded, [charitable music education] programs wouldn’t be necessary.”