Charities Ask Congress to Ease Gas Price Burden

By STEPHANIE STROM

High gasoline costs have put a crimp into volunteer activity at charities across the country.

Organizations, including the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities, have complained that the current tax deduction for use of a personal car while performing volunteer services for charities was too low at 14 cents a mile. That is compared with 58.5 cents a mile for corporate employees who use their cars for business purposes.

More than 100 charitable groups have signed a letter asking Congress to address the problem. And on Wednesday, four senators plan to announce a proposal to reset the charitable mileage deduction to 70 percent of the corporate deduction.  

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