As ordered reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on February 4, 2015
H.R. 644 would amend the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend and expand certain expired provisions that provided an enhanced tax deduction for businesses that donated their food inventory to charitable organizations. The enhanced deduction for food inventory contributions expired after December 31, 2014, and applied to sole proprietors, partnerships, and other businesses not organized as C corporations (which are already permanently allowed an enhanced deduction under more general provisions of current law). H.R. 644 would also expand the maximum deduction for all businesses by allowing deductions of food inventory donations up to 15 percent of the net income of the donating organization, an increase from the 10 percent allowed permanently under current law for C corporations and allowed previously for other businesses. In addition, the bill would allow certain businesses to make alternative assumptions about the cost basis and fair market value of donated food inventory.
The staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that enacting H.R. 644 would reduce revenues, thus increasing federal budget deficits, by about $2.2 billion over the 2015-2025 period.
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending and revenues. Enacting H.R. 644 would result in revenue losses in each year beginning in 2015.
JCT has determined that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
