Written by Dr. Steve Whitaker, Head of School

On November 2, 2017, the House Way and Means Committee released its proposed bill for tax reform, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Just seven days later, the bill passed out of committee on a party-line vote. While the bill has several gauntlets to run before it becomes law, the current version contains several provisions that could significantly impact our schools. Among others, the following areas are of concern:

Charitable Giving–The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) doubles the standard deduction, which will dramatically decrease the number of taxpayers who itemize their returns. The side effect of this is that about 28 million taxpayers will lose the charitable giving deduction. Churches and schools are concerned this will result in a significant decrease in charitable giving and is urging Congress to adopt a universal charitable deduction so all taxpayers can benefit from charitable giving.

Tuition Remission–The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) eliminates the tax-free tuition remission benefit (see section 1204 of the bill on qualified tuition reductions). This means as of January 1, 2018, any tuition remission provided to the children of TFA teachers would be considered taxable income to that employee.

At this point, our voices are needed so that Congress understands how some of the current proposals would negatively affect our churches and schools.

Currently, we are focusing only on the House bill. While the Senate version does not address some of the more problematic components of the House bill, updated talking points and letters directed toward the Senate version will be forwarded to you as available.

Thank you for your efforts.