On July 4th, President Trump signed into law HR 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). While technically a tax bill, the OBBB implements significant elements of the President’s second-term agenda including making permanent most of his 2017 tax cuts, which were set to expire at the end of 2025. Although the financial and tax impact on donors will vary, there is little in the OBBB that directly affects charitable gift planning, and the bill does not include many legislative priorities championed by the charitable sector.

Here is a summary of a few key individual taxpayer provisions of the OBBB along with some observations about the impact they could have on your work with donors.

Breaking News:

Late Monday, June 16, 2025, the Senate Finance Committee released its proposed revisions to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Among the proposed changes are:

• Increase and make permanent the non-itemizer charitable deduction to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for joint filers.
• Add a 0.5% floor on the charitable deduction for individuals who itemize (designed to offset the cost of the non-itemizer charitable deduction).
• Permanently extend the increased 60% AGI cap on the charitable deduction for cash contributions.
• Remove the increased net investment income tax on private foundations.
• Reduce the excise tax on investment income of private colleges and universities to:
  • $500,000 - $750,000 per student – 1.4% (same as House)
  • $750,000 - $2 million per student – 4%
  • More than $2 million per student – 8%
    (Note that “student” includes US citizens only)

Bear in mind, the Senate still must vote on the proposed legislation, and then the Senate and House versions will need to be reconciled. The majority are still pushing to pass the final bill before the July 4th holiday. In other words: “Stay tuned!”

Just after sunrise on May 22, 2025, the House of Representatives passed HR 1, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act” by a vote of 215 to 214. Now, the Senate is considering the 1,038-page bill and proposing changes which will go back to the House for further consideration. Under the regular order, this back-and-forth process will continue until both chambers reach agreement on a final bill which then goes to the President for signature. The Administration’s announced ambition is to sign the bill into law by Independence Day.

We’re still a long way from knowing exactly what might be signed into law. Nevertheless, here is a summary of some of the provisions – as passed by the House – that could affect charitable giving.