Charitable Deductions Reimagined: How the OBBBA Rewrites Philanthropy and Planning

Inside: New rules from OBBBA, Angie’s take on what’s next for charitable giving, and how our community prepares tax pros to handle high-stakes changes before they arrive.

Author

Angie Toney
August 21, 2025

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is a sweeping piece of legislation, but its changes to charitable giving reveal something much deeper: the tax system’s evolving stance on generosity, incentives, and who gets to benefit from contributing.

For decades, charitable deductions have functioned as a bridge between taxpayers and the causes they care about.

High-income earners and corporations, in particular, have used philanthropy both as a tool for impact and as a tax-advantaged way to manage income. But OBBBA hands non-itemizers a modest win while simultaneously narrowing the path for itemizers and corporations.

As we explore this shake-up, I encourage you to think beyond compliance.

What matters most is not simply what deductions survive but how strategies evolve in response.

This is where opportunity lives if you’re prepared to read the code differently, anticipate the ripple effects, and help clients act decisively before thresholds, floors, and limits erode their intentions.

Today’s newsletter will dive into the basics, the strategies, and the mindset you can apply following these changes. Read along to learn more!

The Executive Touch Announcements

Before diving deeper into strategy, I want to remind you of what makes our Executive Touch community invaluable: we don’t just react to legislation, we prepare together.

  • Weekly Power Hours are where members sharpen their edge on client acquisition, premium positioning, and real-world case studies.

  • This afternoon, Thursday, August 21st, we’re hosting a Board Meeting with Antonio Glenn, Esq., who will run a Contract Teardown session. He’ll dissect how agreements are structured, where liability hides, and how to identify leverage points inside contracts that most tax pros overlook.

This month’s Board Meeting is all about contracts—the fine print that can make or break your client relationships.

We’ll be hosting a Contract Teardown with guest expert Antonio Glenn, Esq. to review real examples, highlight common pitfalls, and show you how to strengthen agreements so they protect both you and your clients.

📅 Thursday, August 21st
⏰ 1 PM EST

Here’s what you’ll walk away with:

  • A clearer understanding of contract language that often causes disputes

  • Negotiation strategies that give you and your clients the upper hand

  • Confidence in building agreements that stand up under pressure

This session is designed to give you practical tools you can apply right away.

And don’t forget—our Tax Representation Power Hour is happening this afternoon, Aug 20th. It’s another chance to sharpen your skills and connect with peers in the community.

The Charitable Giving Shake-Up

The OBBBA’s charitable giving provisions create a landscape of winners and losers. Let’s break down what’s at stake:

Non-Itemizers Get a New Seat at the Table
For the first time since the TCJA narrowed itemization, non-itemizers will be able to deduct charitable contributions ($1,000 for singles, $2,000 for joint filers). On its face, this sounds like a democratization of philanthropy.

But here’s the deeper implication: while middle-income families may welcome this modest deduction, the structural tax advantage still tilts toward higher earners who can itemize and exceed thresholds.

This “win” is therefore more symbolic than transformative—yet advisors must recognize it as a conversation starter for middle-market clients.

The SALT Expansion and Its Hidden Charitable Link
The temporary increase of the SALT deduction (from $10,000 to $40,000, beginning 2025) is not just a relief for taxpayers in high-tax states—it has a second-order effect.

By enabling more taxpayers to itemize, it indirectly boosts the incentive to give. More itemizers equals more potential donors leveraging charitable deductions.

This is the unorthodox linkage most miss: SALT’s return isn’t just about property tax relief—it may alter philanthropic flows in ways nonprofits will feel.

The New Deduction Floor: A Subtle but Serious Constraint
The 0.5% AGI floor on itemizers’ charitable deductions is perhaps the most consequential change.

For high-income taxpayers accustomed to seamless deductions, this represents a structural barrier. And what’s most concerning is the precedent: once Congress installs a floor, history suggests it rarely remains low.

Just as the medical deduction floor crept upward, charitable deductions may follow suit. Advisors must plan for the possibility of a higher floor in the future.

Corporate Giving: Incentives Turned Inside Out
For C corporations, the introduction of a 1% income floor fundamentally shifts the calculus. With median giving levels historically under 1%, many corporations will simply lose the tax benefit of philanthropy.

Smaller firms may abandon giving altogether or re-route contributions through compensation strategies. Larger corporations may consolidate giving via foundations to work around the floor.

Love Letter to Tax Pros: Change creates opportunity.

Here’s where the story loops back to you, and why I believe our Executive Touch community matters more than ever.

Laws like OBBBA prove that the rules can change overnight, and what looked like a safe deduction today can turn into a phased-out privilege tomorrow. For most professionals, that creates confusion. For us, it creates opportunity.

Inside our community, I’ve seen advisors transform uncertainty into authority—because we focus not just on law, but on strategy.

This week’s article reminds me that tax strategy is less about memorizing deductions and more about pattern recognition: spotting where policy nudges behavior, where incentives are buried, and how to position clients to win.

If you haven’t yet stepped inside our community, now’s the time.

I’m inviting you to a 7-day free trial into The Executive Touch, where you’ll gain access to power hours, case breakdowns, and board meetings with the brightest legal and financial minds.

This is where strategy gets tested, refined, and implemented, and we’d love for you to join us!

Challenge? Accepted.

Tax law will continue to evolve in ways that challenge both advisors and clients.

What makes the OBBBA unique is not just its technical adjustments but its symbolic message: charitable giving, long considered untouchable, is now being reshaped by limits, floors, and ceilings. The takeaway isn’t despair, it’s urgency.

Those who adapt will lead.

I want to emphasize that you are not alone in this work. Every advisor who joins our community strengthens the collective intelligence we build together.

When one of us learns to navigate a new floor, deduction, or threshold, we all learn.

That’s the beauty of this space - it’s designed so no tax professional has to reinvent strategy in isolation.

Finally, remember this: clients don’t hire you for paperwork. They hire you for foresight. They expect you to know where the tax code is going before they feel its weight.

To smart strategy and sharper execution,
Angie Toney & The Executive Touch Team

Disclaimer

The content shared in this newsletter, including any strategies, tax scenarios, or business insights, is intended purely for educational and informational purposes and should not be taken as personalized professional advice. Examples discussed are illustrative in nature and not guarantees of any specific tax outcome or business result. Your results may differ based on your unique circumstances, efforts, and changing external factors.

Remember, tax and business decisions are highly individual and influenced by many factors such as evolving regulations, personal expertise, and market conditions. We encourage you to seek advice from qualified tax and financial professionals before making significant decisions that could impact your business or finances.