On September 8, 2020, Senate Republicans released the latest version of their next coronavirus relief bill. Section 9001 would double the CARES Act’s cap for qualified charitable deductions by non-itemizing individuals from $300 to $600.

Further, the bill would quadruple the cap on charitable deductions for non-itemizing married couples from $300 to $1200.

The bill also includes increased civil penalties for any understatement of taxes due to a non-itemizing taxpayer’s overstating his or her qualified charitable deductions.

The bill does not (yet) extend the universal charitable deduction through 2021 or later. This would be very important because of how late in 2020 it will be before this expansion is enacted, if it is enacted.

No one knows whether the two parties will be able to agree to a 4th coronavirus relief package. However, it is always possible that an expanded universal charitable deduction could be attached to other must-pass legislation.