Action Alert: Tax Impacting Nonprofits

​Transportation Tax

Last week we asked you to contact your legislators about the impact the changes in the nonprofit transportation tax is causing. Note: this tax will only be applied to those organizations providing transportation benefits for their employees.

In about three weeks, charitable nonprofits, houses of worship, foundations, and other nonprofits will have to send in estimated payments to the IRS to pay taxes on their expenses for providing transportation benefits, including free parking and transit passes. More tax payments will be due a month later.

Tens of thousands of nonprofit organizations will make payments to the IRS on this tax unless nonprofits ask that Congress repeal the nonprofit transportation tax. 

You can help by taking at least two actions today: sign your organization onto a letter calling for repeal (see text of the letter), and contact our Senators and your Representative to ask for repeal now!

The countdown clock is ticking rapidly - thus the urgency of this message: Congress needs to hear from charitable, faith-based, philanthropic, and other nonprofits today. We must voice our concerns.

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Support from all Sides

​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.

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Nonprofit Sign-On Letter

​The National Council of Nonprofits has been working with a broader coalition of nonprofits - led by the American Society of Association Executives - to craft a sign-on letter to the tax committee leaders making the case for repeal of tax code Section 512(a)(7). The letter concludes: "the undersigned organizations urge you to take action immediately to fully repeal this undue and burdensome UBIT on tax-exempts." 

Join us and hundreds of charitable nonprofits, houses of worship, foundations, and other nonprofit associations from across the country in urging congressional leaders “to take action immediately to fully repeal this burdensome UBIT on tax-exempts.” Because April 15 is fast approaching, the deadline for signing the letter is tomorrow, Wednesday, March 27.

Sign Today!

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​Other Ways you can Help

1. Call your Representative at 202-225-3121 and tell them the transportation tax on nonprofits is burdensome and should be repealed. Tell them that nonprofits - charitable organizations, houses of worship, and foundations - are united in opposition to this tax, and urge them to let their leadership know that repealing the nonsensible income tax on expenses by tax-exempt nonprofits is essential before tax payments come due this spring.
   
   
2. Call your Senators at 202-225-3121 and ask them to co-sponsor S.632 (see above). Most Senators won't know about the new bill or few will know that nonprofits must soon (probably by April 15) divert resources away from mission to make quarterly estimated payments on the transportation unrelated business income tax. 
   
   
3. Email your Representative and Senators using their contact forms (on the homepages of their websites) and deliver the same message - the nonsensible income tax on nonprofit expenses by tax-exempt nonprofits for providing transportation benefits should be repealed.
   
   
4. Tweet your Representative and Senator to deliver this simple message: [Representative's/Senator's Twitter Handle] Please repeal the #nonprofit transportation tax (Code Sec 512a7). Every dollar spent on this tax is a dollar diverted from our mission of serving constituents in our state."

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Excerpts from the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) the National Council of Nonprofits