TCJA\u27s Effect on Charitable Giving

The reasons behind charitable giving are numerous and complicated, and when Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December of 2017, they became even more complex. Taxpayers who itemize can deduct charitable contributions from taxable income, and the choice to itemize is largely impacted by whether a taxpayer\u27s standard deduction is larger than the taxpayer\u27s combined itemized deductions. Among other changes, the TCJA raised the standard deduction for all filing statuses, causing reason for concern over charitable giving in the future. While studies have been conducted on the giving patterns of higher-income individuals, there is little recent knowledge on that of middle-income taxpayers. Given this absence of research on the relationship between tax legislation and the giving habits of middle-income taxpayers, this study aims to determine whether the TCJA impacted charitable giving by middle-income individuals. The study employed an online survey to gather data from various taxpayers regarding their 2017, 2018, and 2019 tax returns; their giving patterns; and their personal information