The Effects of Tax Reform on Charitable Contributions
By: Gerald E. Austen, James M. Cilke and William C. Randolph
In this paper Austen, Cilke, and Randolph surveyed the effects of tax reform by examining charitable contributions from 1979 through 1990. This was examined following several changes to charitable giving within the tax code. These changes were predicted to result in a 15% decrease in charitable giving (267). The first change came from “The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (ERTA) which reduced individual income tax rates by approximately 23% over a four-year period (267). The next change came in the form of The Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA) which tightened compliance provisions for charitable organizations