Volunteers need tax relief for mileage

Forty cents might not be a lot — most of us have that behind the couch cushions somewhere — but for a non-profit organization, it could help bring in volunteers.

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, filed a bill Thursday that would “increase the tax deduction for volunteers who deliver meals to homebound individuals,” he said in a news statement.

His DELIVER Act aims to raise the tax deduction to match the standard business mileage deduction.

Currently, a U.S. resident can only claim “14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations,” says the IRS. The standard business mileage rate is 54 cents.

Standard business mileage is “based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile,” the IRS website says. “The charitable rate is based on statute.”

Before 1985, the IRS set the charitable mileage rate. It was flexible, like the standard rate, and was more comparable to the medical/moving rate, which sits between the standard and charitable rates.

But in the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, lawmakers made the charitable mileage rate a flat rate of 12 cents a mile.

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 raised it 2 cents, and it hasn’t changed in over a decade.

It’s a bit mind-boggling why a nonprofit volunteer can only claim 14 cents on a mile compared to the standard 54 cents a mile, especially at a flat rate only increased once it was created 30 years ago.

The National Council of Nonprofits website says increased transportation and energy costs “have caused many individuals to stop donating their time and talent to helping others.”

In 2005, before the recession, 28.8 percent of Americans volunteered, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. That number continually decreased over the next decade. Last year, only 24.9 percent volunteered.

Barton should also consider broadening his bill to encompass all volunteers using their own vehicles, not just people who use “their own time to deliver meals to some of our most frail Americans.”

Making the charitable mileage rate the same as the standard would not only make it better for current volunteers but could help make volunteering more appealing in this post-recession economy.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 7:15 PM with the headline "Volunteers need tax relief for mileage."