New CBO Study Finds That Estate Tax Repeal Would Substantially Reduce Charitable Giving

Publication Date: August 2004

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): David Kamin

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Philanthropy; Economic projections; Tax code; Economic inequality

Type: Report

Abstract:

A new Congressional Budget Office study on the effect of the estate tax on charitable giving finds that elimination of the estate tax would cause charitable contributions to fall by large amounts. CBO estimates that if estate-tax repeal had been in effect in 2000, charitable donations would have been reduced by $13 billion to $25 billion that year. The amount by which CBO finds that charitable donations would fall exceeds the total amount of corporate charitable donations in the United States, which equaled $11 billion in 2000. The amount by which charitable donations would shrink also approaches the total amount that foundations contribute for charitable causes each year.