Congress moves to reward volunteers with bigger tax breaks

What it does

This bill raises the tax deduction for charitable volunteer driving to match the standard business mileage rate (currently 67.5 cents per mile, versus the frozen charitable rate of 14 cents per mile). Volunteers who drive for nonprofits, religious organizations, and other qualified charities will receive a larger tax deduction for each mile driven, making volunteering financially less costly and potentially encouraging more people to donate their time and vehicles to charitable causes.

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is a tax code amendment that increases the deductible mileage rate for charitable volunteer driving. It is a straightforward tax relief measure with no riders, no hidden provisions, and no narrow beneficiaries—just a policy choice to equalize treatment of charitable and business mileage.

What the text implies

• The bill delegates the exact rate to the Secretary of the Treasury, which means the charitable rate will automatically track the business rate going forward—eliminating the need for future legislative fixes if business mileage rates change.
• By tying the charitable rate to the business rate, the bill creates an incentive for the IRS to maintain accurate business mileage rates, since any understatement would also reduce charitable deductions.
• The change may increase charitable giving by reducing the effective cost of volunteering, potentially shifting some tax revenue from the federal government to nonprofits and religious organizations (a modest revenue cost).

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Volunteers and charitable organizations benefit from a more realistic mileage deduction that reflects actual vehicle operating costs. The change removes a long-standing disparity that penalized charitable giving relative to business travel, making volunteering more financially accessible to lower-income households and increasing incentives for civic participation.

Who stands to gain

• individual volunteers (tax deduction increase)
• nonprofit organizations (increased volunteer participation)
• religious organizations (increased volunteer participation)

Named in the bill

Internal Revenue Code §170, Secretary of the Treasury, IRC §162 and §212 (business mileage rate), nonprofits and charitable organizations

Where it stands

14 cosponsors: 7 Democrats, 7 Republicans.

• Feb 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 25, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

5 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $314,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 10 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.

Pete Stauber, the sponsor, reported $991,374 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Peloton Interactive, Inc. — $120,000 on 2 filings
• Natat (national Assn of Towns and Townships — $80,000 on 1 filing
• Independent Sector — $70,000 on 1 filing
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners — $24,000 on 1 filing
• National Alliance on Mental Illness — $20,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.