In a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, lawmakers signaled increases to individual tax deductions for charitable giving, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and James Lankford (R-OK) voiced bipartisan support for restoring and increasing charitable deductions for individual donors who do not itemize their taxes. Rules allowing non-itemized charitable deductions of $300 for single people and $600 for couples—enacted to encourage charitable giving during the COVID-19 pandemic—expired in 2021. Lankford is the sponsor of a bill to renew and expand charitable deductions to approximately $4,000 for single people and $8,000 for couples. How these changes would affect standard tax deductions set for 2022 at $12,950 for single people and $25,900 for couples remains unclear.

Although Wyden has declined to sign on as a cosponsor of the Lankford bill, “I do feel very strongly about expanding the number of Americans who have the opportunity” to deduct charitable giving on their taxes, the senator said.

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