11/18/2019

Organization Urges Congress to Include UBIT Repeal in CR

The letter was sent to leaders last week

OSAE, ASAE and the other members of the UBIT Coalition delivered a letter to House and Senate leaders last week urging them to include repeal of the 21 percent tax on parking and transportation benefits that tax-exempt organizations provide to employees in the short-term continuing resolution that Congress is set to pass in the next few days.

Repealing the nonprofit benefits tax, which was enacted as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), has been ASAE’s top legislative priority this year. The tax is proving to be a huge burden for associations and other nonprofit groups, including churches and small charities that have little or no experience dealing with the IRS and insufficient guidance on how to calculate the value of parking and other benefits provided to their employees.

“Tax-exempt organizations, which include houses of worship, charitable organizations, nonprofits and associations, rely on limited resources to pursue their missions in public service,” the UBIT Coalition letter said. “Missions that serve communities and families, promote safety, offer spiritual and emotional/relational care, and myriad other services, are jeopardized by this tax.”

Repealing the tax has broad support from both Republicans and Democrats, and a repeal provision was included in a tax package passed by the House Ways and Means Committee in June. That package has not yet been voted on by the full House, however, and OSAE, ASAE and the UBIT Coalition are anxious to see action before the end of the year.

Congress is preparing to pass a temporary spending bill to keep the government running through Dec. 20, and that could be a vehicle for repealing the nonprofit benefits tax. Aside from this must-pass legislation, a long-term budget impasse and a long-sought rewrite of North American trade rules, coupled with impeachment proceedings in the House, are crowding what remains of the congressional calendar this year.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.