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PLEASE PLACE ON YOUR LETTERHEAD AND EITHER EMAIL OR FAX YOUR MEMBER OF THE SENATE. IF YOU EMAIL YOUR SENATORS, PLEASE COPY NAFC CEO, NICOLE LAMOUREUX AT Nicole@ and WAFCC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KATHERINE GAULKE AT WAFCCDirector@.To find your Senator, please visit The Honorable Senator _____________U.S. Senate(INSERT ADDRESS)Washington, DC 20510Dear _______________:On behalf of (INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME), our (INERT NUMBER OF PATIENTS) patients and our (INSERT NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS) volunteers, I write to inform you of my deep concern with several provisions that are included in the proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the Senate. If this legislation is enacted as written, it will have a devastating impact on our ability to provide access to health care for (INSERT CITY and STATE) ‘s most vulnerable individuals. The mission of (INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME) is to (INSERT MISSION STATEMENT). Our organization relies heavily on donations from individual donors, foundations, grants and volunteers, which allow us to keep our doors open and to deliver health care to those who need it the most. Some of the changes currently being proposed in the Senate tax bill would discourage all but extremely wealthy donors from investing in their communities and could reduce giving by billions of dollars a year.Specifically, we seek your assistance on the following provisions:Reducing the ACA individual shared responsibility payment to zero: The Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes a provision that eliminates the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. Elimination of this provision will result in a significant increase in premiums, which would in turn substantially increase the number of uninsured Americans. We urge the Senate to keep this insurance requirement unless lawmakers can enact a larger package of changes to stabilize the law. Standard Deduction for Individuals and Couples: The change to double the standard deduction, as proposed by the Senate, will reduce the number of taxpayers who itemize and therefore significantly reduce the value of the charitable deduction leading to a decline in charitable donations to all nonprofits. Recent estimates found that up to 95% of Americans will no longer be incentivized to continue to give to charity if the standard deduction is doubled. We urge the Senate not to double the standard deduction and support the introduction of a universal charitable deduction, which would increase giving by almost $6 billion.Increase Percentage Limit for Charitable Contributions of Cash to Public Charities: The Senate bill increases the 50% AGI limit on cash contributions to public charities to 60% and retain the 5-year carryover. Increasing these limits will incentivize high-income donors to give more to charity. We support the increase to 60% included in the Senate bill and urge you to support the higher limit.Increase in Estate and Gift Tax Exemption: The Senate proposal doubles the estate and gift tax exemption amounts by doubling the amount from $5 million to $10 million. This change will limit the estate tax so that it will only apply to a very small number of households. History has proven that the estate tax encourages charitable bequests and investments. In 2010, when it was temporarily repealed, bequests to charities dropped by 37%. In 2011, when the tax returned, bequests increased by 92%. We urge the Senate to maintain current law and not to make the proposed changes to the estate tax. Repeal of Overall Limitation on Itemized Deductions, Repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT): The Senate bill removes the overall limitation on itemized deductions for certain upper income taxpayers as well as the individual and corporate AMT. Removing these limitations may incentivize high-income taxpayers to increase their charitable giving. We support the repeal of these limitations and urge the Senate to include them in the final tax bill.Mortgage Interest and Repeal of Deduction for Expenses Not Paid or Accrued by Business: The Senate proposal makes changes to the deduction for home equity indebtedness. Additionally, taxpayers will no longer be able to deduct state and local income or sales taxes, unless they are related to a trade, business, or producing income. These changes could greatly decrease the number of individuals who decide to file itemized returns, which would in turn decrease the incentives currently provided to give to charity. We urge the Senate to maintain current law and protect these deductions.Nicole Lamoureux, CEO of the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics is available to speak with you or your staff regarding the impact this bill will have on (INSERT ORGANZIATION NAME) and America’s Free and Charitable Clinics and Charitable Pharmacies as a whole. Nicole can be reached at 703-647-7427 or nicole@ I urge you to ensure that our recommendations are included in the final tax bill. Maintaining tax benefits that encourage people to donate to charities will allow our clinics to continue to provide critical health care to low and middle-income Americans who would otherwise fall through the cracks and be unable to access quality affordable care. Sincerely,INSERT NAMEINSERT TITLE ................
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