(Bloomberg) U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said he expects Congress to pass legislation that would permanently extend three lapsed tax breaks for charitable contributions. The bill would revive and lock in an enhanced deduction for conservation easements, an incentive for people to make donations from retirement accounts, and breaks for businesses that donate food. All expired at the end of 2013.
“All three of these provisions have widespread bipartisan support,” Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, told reporters today in Washington. “I really don’t see a lot of controversy here.”
House Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican, yesterday introduced such a bill, H.R. 5806. The House hasn’t scheduled a vote on it.
All three breaks are included in a broader bill that would revive them for 2014 only. The new measure would make them permanent. The House earlier this year passed a bill, H.R. 4719, to make those breaks permanent and make other changes to tax laws governing charities.
The White House threatened a veto of that measure because it didn’t include language to offset the cost although Republicans insisted on offsetting the cost of other measures such as emergency unemployment benefits.
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