The National Association of Evangelicals thanks House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady for proposing the repeal of the 21 percent tax on parking and transportation benefits provided by churches and nonprofit organizations to their employees.

If not repealed, this provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will impose new burdens and costs on charities that are already coping with reduced tax incentives for charitable giving. The provision also threatens an entanglement of government and the Internal Revenue Service in the internal operations of churches and other religious organizations.

The proposed repeal of Section 512(a)(7) must now be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. If repealed before the end of the calendar year, hundreds of thousands of churches that have never been required to file IRS Form 990-T will not need to spend scarce resources hiring tax advisors and CPAs to comply with this provision of the law.

Most members of Congress did not know that a vote for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 meant imposing a new 21 percent tax on churches and nonprofits. They now have the opportunity to clarify that they never intended to burden the nonprofit sector that contributes to the flourishing of our nation. The National Association of Evangelicals urge the nation’s leaders to resolve this problem immediately.