After nearly a year and a half of Congressional controversy about perceived charity abuses, a discussion which morphed during the session into ideas to raise revenue from the charitable sector, the Senate has included a few tax breaks and a lot of regulation in the Tax Relief Act of 2005, passed late at night before the Thanksgiving recess. (S.B. 2020.) In addition to new rules for donor advised funds and supporting organizations, the Senate would impose a series of new requirements for claims of deduction for personal property

The major incentives for charitable giving, previously embodied in various versions of the CARE Act, include permission for all taxpayers to deduct charitable contributions in excess of $210 per year ($420 for joint filers), and an IRA rollover provision for taxpayers over 70 1/2. Both breaks would be effective only for the years 2006 and 2007.