The $230 billion donor-advised fund industry gets an IRS hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress and the Biden administration are considering what, if anything, should be done to tighten restrictions on donor-advised funds, an increasingly popular way for donors to set aside money to spend on charitable causes.

Driving the debates are questions about whether the country’s ultrawealthy are abusing the immediate tax deductions they receive from tucking money into DAFs, where the dollars can sit indefinitely or, more often, until donors decide which nonprofits to support. Many in the nonprofit world have opposed that characterization, arguing the accounts allow for an easy, no-frills style of giving that appeals to both wealthy and average American donors.

This week, the Internal Revenue Service held a public hearing to discuss its plan to regulate DAFs. The proposals include: altering the definition of what constitutes a donor-advised fund so that it applies to a broader swath of accounts; expanding the definition of donor advisers to include personal investment advisers who help manage assets in DAFs; and imposing new penalties on those who abuse the funds. If approved, the IRS would impose a 20% excise tax on donations that provide significant benefit to the donor, among other changes.

In question is the IRS’s interpretation of a 2006 law signed by President George W. Bush, which laid out the first comprehensive set of policies for donor-advised funds.