TAKE ACTION

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law Public Law No. 115-97 [1], unofficially called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which imposes a 21-percent unrelated business income tax on nonprofits for expenses they incur in providing their employees with transportation fringe benefits, such as parking and transit passes. In December 2018, the Treasury Department and the IRS provided partial guidance on how to calculate this new tax on parking expenses, but assumes that all expenses for bus and transit passes are subject to the tax. In both parking and transit benefits, the government will require the nonprofit employer to pay the tax on amounts employees request to be withheld from their paychecks pursuant to voluntary compensation reduction agreements. 

There is broad, bipartisan support for repealing this tax on tax-exempt organizations. In fact, there is not a Senator or Representative on record supporting keeping the tax. The problem is timing: left on its own, Congress won’t get around to repealing the nonprofit transportation tax until later this year or next, if at all. Partisan differences on other tax issues are delaying action on this nonpartisan, but urgently needed, fix. Congressional leaders essentially are delaying repeal of the tax on tax-exempt organizations now as a negotiating tactic for other issues they consider higher priorities. Charitable organizations must deliver the message loudly and forcefully: Don’t hold community nonprofits hostage to partisan bickering; repeal the nonprofit transportation tax immediately.

Why It Matters

The new unrelated business income taxes (UBIT) on nonprofits, which took effect on January 1, 2018, imposes an income tax on expenses of nonprofits. In addition to diverting resources away from nonprofit missions, the tax was imposed largely to reduce the overall costs of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a law that provided large tax cuts to corporations and wealthier taxpayers. It was justified at the time as providing parity with for-profit businesses that were no longer permitted to deduct transportation benefit costs. Further, the tax is exceedingly vague, and requires complex analysis and cost calculations to determine whether nonprofits expend enough on parking to be liable for the tax.

Where We Stand

Nonprofits received little, if any, gains under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and yet are now subject to a new, illogical income tax on transportation benefits in the name of “parity.” We and many in the community consider the “parity” argument a false equivalency, and believe that repeal is appropriate.

Letter to Incoming Tax Committee Chairs [2], November 26, 2018

Status

Section 512(a)(7) is terrible tax policy and there is no support in the House or the Senate for retaining it. A full repeal of Section 512(a)(7) was included in the Economic Mobility Act of 2019 [3] (H.R. 3300) that was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on June 20. The provision would repeal the "required unrelated business taxation income (UBTI) of tax-exempt organizations to be increased by expenses related to qualified transportation fringe benefits," according to a section-by-section summary [4]. Read the National Council of Nonprofits' written testimony [5] and statement [6] in support of repealing the tax.

Other bills in the 116^th Congress, HR 1223 [7] by House Majority Whip Clyburn (D-SC) and HR 513 [8] by Representative Conaway (R-TX), would also repeal the tax. Two bipartisan bills have been introduced in the Senate. The “Lessen Impediments From Taxes for Charities Act” or the “LIFT for Charities Act” (S.632 [9]) was introduced in the Senate by Senators Lankford (R-OK) and Coons (D-DE). See the news release [10]. Representative Walker (R-NC) has introduced a companion bill (H.R. 1545 [11]) in the House. More recently, Senators Cruz (R-TX) and Shaheen (D-NH) introduced the "Preserve Charities and Houses of Worship Act" (S.1282 [12]) to repeal Section 512(a)(7). The House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee announced a hearing [13] on "Ending the TCJA Tax on Houses of Worship, Charities, and Nonprofits" on June 19, 2019.

The IRS issued guidance [14] on December 10, 2018, for calculating parking expenses for unrelated business taxable income purposes and provided penalty relief to nonprofits. The guidance is incomplete, costly, and raises even more confusion for nonprofits struggling to comply. See the IRS News Release [15] and National Council of Nonprofits summary [14] and public comments [16].

Take Action

Tell Congress to repeal the unfair tax on nonprofit transportation benefits immediately. Take five minutes today to Contact our Senators and Representatives directly:

• Call your Representative [17] at 202-225-3121 and Senators [18] at 202-225-3121 and tell them the transportation tax on nonprofits is unfair and burdensome, and must be repealed immediately. Partial guidance from the IRS issued on December 10 is incomplete, costly, and raises even more confusion. Tell them that nonprofits – charitable organizations, houses of worship, and foundations – are all united in opposition to this tax, and tell them: “Don’t hold community nonprofits hostage to partisan bickering; repeal the nonprofit transportation tax immediately.”
• Email your Representative [17] and Senators [18] using their contact forms (found on their home pages) and deliver the same message – “The transportation tax on nonprofits is unfair and burdensome, and must be repealed immediately. Partial guidance from the IRS issued on December 10 is incomplete, costly, and raises even more confusion. Charitable organizations, houses of worship, foundations, and association are all united in opposition to this tax. Don’t hold community nonprofits hostage to partisan bickering; repeal the nonprofit transportation tax immediately.”
• Tweet your Representative and Senators [19] to deliver this simple message: “.[Representative/Senator’s Twitter Handle] [19] Repeal the #nonprofit transportation tax (Code Sec 512a7). It diverts scarce dollars from our mission of serving people in our state. Don’t hold #nonprofits hostage to partisan bickering; repeal the nonprofit transportation tax now”

Resources

• Dear Colleague Letter from House Majority Whip Clyburn and Representative Maloney in support of H.R. 1223 and H.R. 3323 [20], July 12, 2019.
• Bipartisan Support Demonstrated for Repeal of Tax on Nonprofit Transportation Benefits [21], National Council of Nonprofits, statement, June 20, 2019.
• Letter to the Committee on Ways and Means re Unrelated Business Income Tax on Nonprofit Transportation Benefits [22], Witnesses from ASAE, Emory University, Harc, National Council of Nonprofits, and Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, hearing cancelled, June 19, 2019.
• Nonprofits Applaud Progress on Repealing Tax on Nonprofit Transportation Benefits [6], National Council of Nonprofits, statement, June 18, 2019.
• Statement to the Committee on Ways and Means re Ending the TCJA Tax on Houses of Worship, Charities, and Nonprofits [5], Testimony of David L. Thompson, National Council of Nonprofits, hearing cancelled, June 18, 2019.
• Today is Nonprofit Tax Day: Burdensome Federal Tax on Nonprofits Must Be Repealed [23], Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, May 15, 2019.
• $600+ Million [24], Joint Committee on Taxation, May 8, 2019.
• Letter to Chairmen Neal and Grassley [25], More than 600 Organizations, April 9, 2019.
• UBIT Benefits Discussed At Capitol Hill Hearing [26], The NonProfit Times, March 28, 2019.
• Statement to the Committee on Ways and Means re The 2017 Tax Law and Who It Left Behind [27], National Council of Nonprofits, March 27, 2019.
• Legislation To Repeal Nonprofit Tax Getting Bipartisan Support [28], The NonProfit Times, March 7, 2019.
• Sens. Coons, Lankford & Rep. Walker Re-introduce LIFT for Charities Act [10], news release, February 28, 2019.
• IRS Notice on Transportation UBIT [14], National Council of Nonprofits, summarizing IRS Notice 2018-99 and Notice 2018-100 regarding the tax on nonprofit transportation benefits.
• Comments to the IRS Notice 2018-99 [29], Center for Non-Profits (NJ), February 22, 2019.
• Comments to the IRS Notice 2018-99 [30], Michigan Nonprofit Association and Council of Michigan Foundations, February 22, 2019.
• Letter to Representative Neal - Repeal of IRC Section 512(a)(7) [31], Providers' Council and Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, February 22, 2019.
• Comments to the IRS Notice 2018-99 [16], National Council of Nonprofits, February 20, 2019.
• Comments to the IRS Notice 2018-99 [32], Washington Nonprofits, February 2019.
• Comments to the IRS Notice 2018-99 [33], YMCA of the USA, February 19, 2019.
• Letter to Representative Clyburn - Stop the Tax Hike on Charities and Places of Worship Act [34], National Council of Nonprofits and Together SC, February 14, 2019.
• Comments to the IRS Notice 2018-99 & 2018-100 [35], CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, February 4, 2019.
• Letter to Congressional Leadership Urging Repeal of Nonprofit Transportation Benefits [36], National Council of Nonprofits, December 17, 2018.
• National Council of Nonprofits Applauds Bipartisan Letter Calling for Delay of New Taxes on Tax-Exempt Organizations [37], statement, November 28, 2018.
• Letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin [38] from Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Chris Coons (D-DE), November 27, 2018, calling for a delay in implementing both new taxes on nonprofits.
• Updated Letter to IRS/Treasury requesting delay in implementation of the new UBIT provisions in Public Law No. 115-97 [39], National Council of Nonprofits, July 21, 2018.
• Taxing Tax Exempts and Other Oxymorons in the New Tax Law [40], Jennifer Chandler and David L. Thompson, National Council of Nonprofits blog, April 30, 2018.
• Preliminary Letter to IRS/Treasury requesting delay in implementation of the new UBIT provisions in Public Law 115-97 [41], National Council of Nonprofits, April 24, 2018.
• Unrelated Business Income Taxation [42], National Council of Nonprofits
• Resources on How the New Federal Tax Law Impacts Charitable Nonprofits [43], National Council of Nonprofits
• Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference [44], at pages 410-411, U.S. Congress