MAJORITY WHIP CLYBURN, SENATOR BROWN, REPS. HORSFORD AND SUOZZI PRAISE TAX FIX ON CHARITIES AND PLACES OF WORSHIP

Last Congress, the Republican-passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 raised nearly $1.7 billion from places of worship and other nonprofits by applying the 21% unrelated business income tax to the value of certain so-called “fringe benefits,” such as parking and transit, provided to their employees. This tax would cost charities and places of worship tens of thousands of dollars each. Earlier this year, Clyburn, Horsford, and Suozzi introduced H.R. 1223, The Stop the Tax Hike on Charities and Places of Worship Act, which aimed to repeal the provision. Senator Sherrod Brown introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn

“I’m pleased to see that an agreement has been reached to remove this burdensome tax on charities, places of worship, and other nonprofit organizations. Just as our country’s history is steeped in volunteerism and philanthropy to aid the less fortunate, so too is our tax code, giving tax-exempt status to organizations working to improve our communities. This fix restores this principle and ensures that these organizations will be able to carry out their important missions.”

Senator Sherrod Brown

“These burdensome tax hikes inhibit the good work that churches, charities, and other non-profits are doing for their communities and the people that live in them. I am grateful to Congressman Clyburn for his leadership on this critical issue and I was proud to fight alongside him to stop this tax hike. We need a tax code that puts people first.”

Congressman Steven Horsford

“I'm proud to vote today to free our houses of worship and our non-profit organizations of this burdensome tax, imposed by the harmful Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. It is just one of many failures of that tax scheme that these institutions, which provide so much value to our communities, were penalized. Today, we have righted that wrong.”

Congressman Thomas Suozzi

“I applaud the repeal of the wrongheaded and unnecessary Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT), which was created as a result of the 2017 GOP tax bill and placed an additional tax burden on houses of worship and other nonprofits. I applaud Leader Clyburn for leading this fight so we can give back resources to houses of worship and charities who are helping millions of Americans by fighting the opioid epidemic, feeding the hungry, protecting civil liberties, and much more.”

David L. Thompson, Vice President of Public Policy, National Council of Nonprofits in Washington, D.C. 

“We’re pleased that hundreds of millions of dollars will remain in communities, allowing nonprofits to provide vital services, instead of being diverted to a nonsensical tax and the costs of calculating it. The retroactive nature of the repeal is welcome, but it can’t repair the damage already done and the people who nonprofits could not serve as a result of the tax being implemented in the first place. We applaud Whip Clyburn and Senator Brown for being among the first to speak out and stand up for the nonprofit community. Thank you.”

“We are very grateful for the leadership of Rep. Clyburn and Sen. Brown who worked with us persistently to have this terrible tax provision repealed. The ‘nonprofit parking tax’ threatened to drain much needed resources from the Jewish community’s many charities (as well as charities in other communities). It also would have breached longstanding policies that protect our synagogues and other houses of worship from improper entanglement with the IRS.”

Galen Carey, Vice President for Government Relations, National Association of Evangelicals

“Churches and charities play indispensable roles in weaving the social fabric of the nation. The U.S. has historically recognized their value to society and exempted them from taxation. The repeal of the parking tax restores this principle. We thank legislators in both parties who worked to achieve this important victory.”

Dr. Russell Moore, President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention

“It's not every day that Congress finds bipartisan areas of agreement. Thankfully, the House did just that, repealing the parking lot tax on nonprofits and houses of worship in their appropriations bill. This is essential progress in the right direction for an issue with bipartisan and bicameral support. Now it's time for the Senate to finish the task and end this troublesome tax. Churches must not be seen as untapped sources of government revenue. I am grateful for the House leadership and the members who worked hard for this tax to be repealed and look forward to this burden being lifted from nonprofits around the country.”

James Sanft, Chair of the Church Alliance and President and CEO of Concordia Plan Services

“The Church Alliance is very appreciative of Congress’ leadership in advancing the repeal of the church parking lot UBIT tax. Repeal of IRC Section 512(a)(7) ensures that precious and limited resources are maintained for ministry and mission work at churches and religious organizations across the country, rather than being siphoned away to comply with and pay this burdensome tax.”

Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO, The Jewish Federations of North America

“We applaud Congress for taking steps to repeal this unfair tax on charities that provide transportation fringe benefits to their employees. This will free up needed dollars to fund vital social service programs to help the most vulnerable among us.”

Sister Donna J. Markham OP, PhD, President and CEO, Catholic Charities USA

“We applaud Congress’s bipartisan work to repeal the parking lot tax on churches and charities. The tax would have forced many Catholic Charities agencies to divert time and financial resources away from serving millions of people living in poverty.”

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