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August 05, 2008

New Measure Seeks to Aid People Who Deliver Meals to the Needy

Rep. Robert E. Latta, an Ohio Republican, has introduced a bill that would increase the tax deduction for people who use their automobiles as part of their volunteer work for charities if that work is for “the delivery of meals to homebound individuals who are elderly, disabled, frail, or at risk.”

Under current 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 subjected to federal income tax). Some members of Congress say that rate is too low, especially as gas prices have risen in recent months.

Mr. Latta’s bill, HR 6675, would increase the mileage rate for those who deliver meals from the current 14 cents to 58.5 cents per mile, which is the current rate for business expenses.

Many lawmakers have drafted bills in recent weeks to help charity volunteers who use their vehicles including those who provide aid to victims of the Midwestern floods.

— Grant Williams

Tuesday August 5, 2008 | Permalink

Comments

1. There is an exciting new tool provided by http://www.MileageLogger.com that will eliminate the pain of logging those miles by hand. You might want to check it out.

   — mileageguru    Aug 5, 03:31 PM    #

2. I personally delivered meals to shut-ins for a year. I recognize the delight those people exhibit in seeing a friendly face as well as getting a meal. Deliverers of meals need to be adequately compensated.

   — Shirley Myers    Aug 13, 12:19 PM    #

Commenting is closed for this article.

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