Two members of the Senate Finance Committee are seeking to amend the economic-stimulus package moving through Congress with a pair of provisions that focus on how much hospitals do to provide services to patients at little or no cost.

One amendment would require that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the nation’s largest health-insurance programs, work with the Internal Revenue Service and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent agency that advises Congress, to develop a single, uniform definition of uncompensated care and and charity care.

“This coordination would ensure consistency in reporting of uncompensated care and charity care,” said a press release from Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is the top-ranking Republican on the finance committee, and Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat. “It would also eliminate a...

The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that a charity that conducts scientific research is doing nothing improper by performing studies for a for-profit company and will keep its tax exemption.

The charity, which was formed to research new methods in medical imaging, agreed to collect data for the company using a method covered by patents the company has licensed. The charity evaluates whether the imaging method is able to identify a variety of medical conditions.

Under the agreement, inventions (patentable or not) or materials that could be copyrighted resulting from the research by the charity can be made available to the company through a royalty-free license.

The charity designed the studies, but company representatives are allowed to observe them.

In its ruling, the IRS said the charity’s activities qualify as “scientific research in the public interest” under federal law a...

In a revised guide for taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service explains how people who used their cars to help charities provide disaster relief during Midwestern storms last year can take an increased deduction for the miles they drove.

Each year in its Publication 526, “Charitable Contributions,” the IRS tells taxpayers how to claim deductions for contributions, describes organizations that are qualified to receive deductible gifts, and explains the effects of changes in federal law.

The newly revised publication, for use in preparing 2008 tax returns, describes how a federal law enacted last fall provided tax incentives for charitable giving to help victims of summer storms, tornadoes, and floods in the Midwest.

For example, people who used their cars to provide disaster relief in the Midwest can deduct up to 41 cents per mile, depending on the date of their volunteer work. The...

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, says key colleagues have agreed to work to get a provision that would increase the tax deduction for people who use their vehicles as part of their volunteer work for charities into the Senate version of the economic-stimulus package.

Mr. Grassley said in a statement that he sought to offer an amendment on the mileage provision when the finance committee considered its part of the economic-stimulus bill earlier this week.

He said he withdrew the amendment after he received a commitment from fellow Senators — including Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the committee — to deal with the mileage provision when the economic-stimulus legislation comes to the Senate floor.

“The stimulus [package] focuses on paying jobs, but the non-paying jobs are just as important for a strong society, especially...

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, says he hopes a new report showing a big drop in the value of college endowments due to the crash in the stock market and other investments does not lead higher-education institutions to put the squeeze on students.

“I hope colleges won’t use the recent volatility as an excuse to raise tuition or freeze student aid,” said Mr. Grassley in a statement.

“They might forget the very recent years of double-digit gains or that many of them still have a lot of money in the bank,” the senator continued. “They might overlook that there always seems to be money for a salary increase for the president or a football coach.”

Earlier this week, the National Association of College and University Business Officers released a report showing that endowments at institutions surveyed by Nacubo lost 22.5 percent of their...

Several members of Congress are trying again this year to pass legislation that would increase the tax deduction for people who use their vehicles as part of their volunteer work for charities.

Under federal law, volunteers who drive their cars for charitable purposes may deduct 14 cents a mile for their car costs or be reimbursed by a charity at that rate without the payment being subject to federal income tax.

Last year, in a bid to help volunteers cope with high gas prices, a dozen bills were introduced in Congress that would have increased the mileage rate in various ways.

None of the measures passed. But today one of the bills was revived in the new session of Congress: the Giving Incentives to Volunteers Everywhere Act, or GIVE Act.

The measure would allow the Internal Revenue Service to continually adjust the mileage rate for charitable activities for inflation and other ...

A former top official of the Internal Revenue Service is asking the Treasury Department to publish guidelines that would tell charities — and the IRS itself — what the federal government specifically expects from nonprofit organizations on matters of governance.

The federal tax code does not explicitly set out specific governance standards for the IRS to enforce, but the tax agency has shown increasing interest in keeping an eye on charity governance practices.

“Because there is no precedential federal tax law guidance that prescribes the appropriate standards for nonprofit governance, a number of my clients have raised questions about how to comply with the new IRS initiatives,” Marc Owens, a lawyer specializing in nonprofit issues in Washington, told the Treasury Department in a letter today.

“To address these inquiries, it would be helpful to have clear direction from the...