Grassley, Thomas Debate How Comprenhensive the Charitable Tax Bill Should Be

Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) announced yesterday that charitable tax provision reform as well as charitable tax incentives should be included as a trailer to pension legislation facing Congress soon. Meanwhile, William Thomas (R-CA), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, is uncomfortable with inclusion of the charitable provisions until additional hearings are held. Grassley also pointed out that negotiators had reached tentative agreement on five or six major issues on the underlying pension bill.

Given the complexies of the pension legislation and the bipartisan support for the primary trailer (sales tax and business credits) I tend to favor an approach closer to Thomas--defer charitable issues for a separate bill. I acknowledge that this would mean three tax laws in one year, but it sounds like chances of getting it right would be better if the charitable material received extra time.