Congress raises tax break for nonprofit volunteers to match business travel rates
S. 1177 — Volunteer Driver Tax Appreciation Act of 2025 · Filed by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Mar 27, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill raises the tax deduction for charitable mileage (driving for nonprofits) from a fixed 14 cents per mile to match the business travel mileage rate, which the IRS adjusts annually. Volunteers who drive for charities will receive a larger tax deduction, making charitable work financially less costly.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a tax-code amendment that increases the deductible mileage rate for charitable driving. It is a straightforward tax incentive designed to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of volunteer transportation.
What the text implies
- The rate is now indexed to IRS business mileage adjustments, meaning charitable deductions will automatically increase when business rates rise, without requiring new legislation.
- Volunteers in higher tax brackets receive proportionally larger tax benefits from the increased deduction, creating a regressive subsidy structure.
- The Secretary retains discretion to set the rate 'not less than' the business rate, potentially allowing it to exceed business mileage if deemed appropriate.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Volunteers who donate their time and vehicles to charitable organizations receive a larger tax deduction, reducing their tax burden and making charitable service financially more attractive. The change aligns charitable and business mileage rates, eliminating a disparity that penalized nonprofit work relative to commercial travel.
Who stands to gain
- Individual volunteers (tax deduction benefit)
- Nonprofit organizations (indirectly, through reduced volunteer cost-sharing)
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Secretary of the Treasury, Nonprofit organizations (IRC §170(c)), Individual taxpayers
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Mar 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 27, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $150,000 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 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Amy Klobuchar, the sponsor, reported $116,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Natat (national Assn of Towns and Townships — $80,000 on 1 filing
- Independent Sector — $70,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (742 characters) on Jul 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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