By Sherri Welch, senior reporter, Crain’s Detroit Business |

The U.S. Congress has approved a bill that would make three charitable tax incentives permanent, according to Washington, D.C.-based Independent Sector, which called the move “a monumental victory on Capital Hill” in an open letter to its members.

Independent Sector and the nonprofit sector as a whole have been advocating to make the charitable incentives a permanent part of the tax code for a decade. During that time, the incentives have repeatedly expired before, in some cases, being retroactively renewed, confounding and frustrating donors and advisers alike.

Part of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, the charitable tax incentives set to become permanent include:

• the IRA charitable rollover, which allows donors age 70½ and older to give to charities up to $100,000 tax-free annually from their IRAs
• enhanced deductions for gifts of excess food inventories and conservation easement provisions under which private owners promise not to develop land in exchange for the deduction while still retaining ownership of the land.

The act also includes provisions to make the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit permanent, according to Independent Sector.