Vso Equal Tax Treatment Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1432) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the deductibility of charitable contributions to certain organizations for members of the Armed Forces, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1432

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``VSO Equal Tax Treatment Act'' or as the ``VETT Act''. SEC. 2. DEDUCTIBILITY OF CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

(a) In General.--Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:

``(6) An organization described in section 501(c)(19) that is a federally chartered corporation.''.

(b) Percentage Limitation.--Section 170(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (viii), by adding ``or'' at the end of clause (ix), and by inserting after clause (ix) the following new clause:

``(x) an organization described in section 501(c)(19) that is a federally chartered corporation,''.

(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1432, the VSO Equal Tax Treatment Act, or VETT Act, introduced by my Ways and Means colleague, Dr. Brad Wenstrup, and Representative Jimmy Panetta.

In short, this legislation makes it easier for those looking to support our veterans to do so through donations to the veterans service organization of their choosing.

Right now, certain VSOs are prohibited from accepting tax-deductible donations if over 10 percent of the members in their organization are not considered ``wartime veterans,'' but this prohibition is outdated.

As our veteran populations age, this needlessly restrictive definition excludes veteran populations who joined the service following the Vietnam war and before the Persian Gulf war.

An estimated 2.4 million veterans living today do not meet the definition of wartime veterans, including some of the men and women who bravely served this country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

VSOs provide critical services to our Nation's veterans. They help with filing service-connected claims with the VA. They provide other types of assistance when it comes to navigating the confusing web of government programs our veterans rely on.

They also stand in support of our military families, the moms and dads, the husbands and wives, and the sons and daughters of our veterans.

Under this legislation, our tax code will no longer discriminate among our veterans service organizations. Charitable contributions to all federally chartered, tax-exempt organizations that serve current and former members of the military will be tax deductible.

The Ways and Means Committee approved this legislation unanimously. I urge all my colleagues to follow our bipartisan lead and vote ``yes'' on this commonsense bill to support our veterans, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, there is a reason this bill passed the Ways and Means Committee 42-0. There is no denying this is the right thing to do. I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

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