LIST: CHARITABLE DONATIONS MAY DROP UNDER PROPOSED TAX REFORM BILL (2017)

PUBLISHED ON NOV 13, 2017

In a November 13 Chicago Tribune article, Prof. John A. List, Chair of the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago shared his concern that proposed changes in the United States tax code could lead to significant reductions in charitable giving. According to recent research conducted by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, changes in the standard deduction, coupled with a decrease in the marginal tax rate - a disincentive to itemize - would reduce charitable giving by an estimated $4.9 billion to $13.1 billion annually. “Incentives represent the backbone of what people decide to give and who to give to. These types of incentives...really do move real dollars around and affect real lives," List states. "People will still want to change the world, but when it’s costlier to change the world, then they want to change the world a little less.” Read the full article.