II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 243 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the Secretary of 

the Treasury to establish the standard mileage rate for use of a passenger automobile for purposes of the charitable contributions deduction 

and to exclude charitable mileage reimbursements from gross income. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 14, 2009 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BURR, Mr. 

DODD, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the 

Secretary of the Treasury to establish the standard mileage rate for use of a passenger automobile for purposes 

of the charitable contributions deduction and to exclude 

charitable mileage reimbursements from gross income. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Giving Incentives to 

5 Volunteers Everywhere Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘GIVE Act 

6 of 2009’’. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
2 

•S 243 IS

1 SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF STANDARD MILEAGE RATE 

2 FOR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS DEDUC3 TION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (i) of section 170 of 

5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to standard 

6 mileage rate for use of passenger automobile) is amended 

7 to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(i) STANDARD MILEAGE RATE FOR USE OF PAS9 SENGER AUTOMOBILE.—For purposes of computing the 

10 deduction under this section for use of a passenger auto11 mobile, the standard mileage rate shall be the rate deter12 mined by the Secretary, which rate shall not be less than 

13 the standard mileage rate used for purposes of section 

14 213.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

16 this section shall apply to miles traveled after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR CHARI19 TABLE MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENTS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap21 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 

22 items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended 

23 by adding at the end the following new section: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 139C. CHARITABLE MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT. 

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

26 gross income shall not include amounts received from an 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
3 

•S 243 IS

1 organization described in section 170(c)(2) as reimburse2 ment of operating expenses with respect to the use of a 

3 passenger automobile for the benefit of such organization. 

4 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount excluded from gross 

5 income under subsection (a) shall not exceed the product 

6 of the standard mileage rate used for purposes of section 

7 162 multiplied by the number of miles traveled for which 

8 such reimbursement is made. 

9 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION TO VOLUNTEER SERVICES

10 ONLY.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to any 

11 expenses relating to the performance of services for com12 pensation. 

13 ‘‘(d) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—A taxpayer may not 

14 claim a deduction or credit under any other provision of 

15 this title with respect to reimbursements excluded from 

16 income under subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(e) EXEMPTION FROM REPORTING REQUIRE18 MENTS.—Section 6041 shall not apply with respect to re19 imbursements excluded from income under subsection (a). 

20 ‘‘(f) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.—For purposes of 

21 this section, no exclusion shall be allowed under subsection 

22 (a) for any reimbursement unless with respect to such re23 imbursement the taxpayer meets substantiation require24 ments similar to the requirements of section 274(d).’’. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
4 

•S 243 IS

1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such 

3 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 item: 

‘‘Sec. 139C. Charitable mileage reimbursement.’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply to miles traveled after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS