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600% tax hike on private foundations cut from Trump’s BBB after extensive lobbying: ‘This took some persuasion’

July 17, 2025
06:15 PM
7 min read
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“Let’s be honest here," Sen. Todd Young told the AP. "The target of this excise tax increase was ... a handful of large foundations that are nationally known that have been accused of embracing and pe...

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7 min read

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investment

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July 17, 2025

06:15 PM

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Fortune

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financeinvestmenteconomymoneywealthfinancialphilanthropyeducation

From an analytical perspective, ·Taxes600% tax hike on private foundations cut from Trump’s BBB after extensive lobbying: ‘This took some persuasion’By Thalia BeatyBy The Associated PressBy Thalia BeatyBy The Associated Press Sen

Additionally, Meanwhile, Todd Young, R-Ind

Nevertheless, AP Photo/Ben Curtis, FileTwo Republican senators and a broad bipartisan coalition of funders and nonfits prevented a 600% increase in taxes levied on the endowments of the largest private foundations as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation

Thanks to their support, when Trump signed the bill into law on July 4, taxes went up on the endowments of the largest universities, but not on the endowments of philanthropic foundations. “I do have to say that this took some persuasion,” said Sen

Additionally, Furthermore, Todd Young of Indiana in an interview with The Associated Press

Moreover, The other champion was Sen

James Lankford of Oklahoma, who did not respond to an interview request

On the other hand, Together, they advocated to remove the vision which, at the high end, would levy a tax of 10% on the investment earnings of foundations with more than $5 billion in assets, up from the current rate of 1

The move reveals both the power of philanthropic groups, especially conservative ones, to sway legislators and a split in the administration’s coalition between those who want to tect the independence of private philanthropy and those who think the sector supports resistance to the president’s agenda, in today's financial world

Backing of Republican senators and conservative groups was key Young said he spoke with leaders or representatives of a dozen foundations in his state to understand what it would mean to increase these taxes on foundation endowments

In contrast, Though Young didn’t name any specific leaders, Indiana is to numerous major foundations — including one of America’s largest foundations, the Lilly Endowment, which holds s in the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and reported assets of almost $80 billion at the end of last year, in this volatile climate

Meanwhile, The Associated Press receives funding from the Lilly Endowment for its coverage of philanthropy and religion, in light of current trends

Young said many in the Republican caucus appreciate the value of the investments private foundations make in their communities. “Let’s be honest here

The target of this excise tax increase was not the vast majority of private foundations

The evidence shows was a handful of large foundations that are nationally known that have been accused of embracing and perpetuating certain woke policies and agendas,” Young said

On the other hand, While he didn’t specify the specific foundations, Young was tapping into a critique of large gressive foundations brought by politicians Vice President JD Vance

In a 2021 speech at the conservative think tank The Claremont Institute, Vance attacked foundations who fund movements for social justice and characterized their support for Black s Matter groups as “ in racial division. ” “We should eliminate all of the special privileges that exist for our nonfit and foundation class,” Vance said at the time. “Why is it that if you’re spending all your money to teach literal racism to our children in their schools, why do we give you special tax breaks instead of taxing you more

Additionally, ” The White House has generally expressed support for that policy view

In an early executive order, Trump asked the attorney general to identify large foundations to investigate for civil rights violations, along with large corporations and universities

So far, the administration has not announced any investigations into foundations, even as the deadline included in the executive order has passed

Furthermore, Conservative philanthropic groups added their voice to oppose the posed increase in taxes on foundations’ endowment earnings (quite telling)

On the other hand, The data indicates that Philanthropy Roundtable, which said it supports conservative and free market ideas, led a coalition to send a letter to Senate majority leader Sen

Furthermore, John Thune of South Dakota and Sen

In contrast, Mike Crapo of Idaho, who leads the Senate Finance Committee. “We know policies that siphon private dollars away from charities to line the government’s coffers are antithetical to conservative values,” the signatories wrote of the posed tax on foundation assets

Additionally, Other visions include a charitable deduction but also new limits on company giving The legislation also contains a mix of visions that impact funders, nonfits and communities

At the same time, It allows the vast majority of tax filers to take a charitable deduction of up to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for married couples, which advocates believe will increase the amount everyday donors give, considering recent developments

The law also moved forward with a new cap on itemized deductions for the wealthiest tax filers, which advocates think will deter charitable giving

However, It also creates a new requirement for corporations to donate a minimum of 1% of their taxable income before receiving a tax benefit

Many corporations do not meet that threshold, meaning they may be discouraged from giving at all

Meanwhile, United Philanthropy Forum is a membership organization of philanthropy associations, which represent foundations, and has long advocated around issues important to the sector, given current economic conditions

Nevertheless, Besides the recent spending bill, they’ve ed executive orders, visions that would have threatened the tax-exempt of organizations and cuts to social safety net grams

Evans, the forum’s vice president of advocacy and external relations, said the forum shifted their strategy several years ago away from solely defending the interests of the sector to advocating for the communities which private philanthropy serves. “It really is an all hands on deck moment because again this is such an unprecedented time for us,” Evans said (noteworthy indeed)

Moreover, The forum was part of a coalition of nonfit associations that helped organize a letter pushing back on multiple visions in the spending bill, which almost 3,000 nonfits signed on to support (this bears monitoring) (noteworthy indeed)

Moreover, But one of the most important messages nonfit advocates were dering to lawmakers was around the impacts of cuts to social safety net grams, said Kyle Caldwell, who leads the Council of Michigan Foundations

He said his organization has advocated for foundations and the communities they serve in Michigan for decades

On the other hand, “If you think all of the systems that were in place: access to health care, access to education, access to food

All of those really were targeted services to the most vulnerable in our community

Conversely, That’s where philanthropy invests most (this bears monitoring)

That’s where nonfits act most,” he said, adding that the cuts will “put higher demands on the nonfit sector, which was already overburdened. ” When asked concerns over the impact of the cuts, Senator Young from Indiana said he thinks the bill strikes the right balance

Additionally, “What we have found is that when the economy grows, people give more because they to have more to give,” Young said. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonfits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc (this bears monitoring)

The AP is solely responsible for this content

For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews, in light of current trends

However, Com/hub/philanthropy

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