I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 543
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide special rules for 
determining the amount allowed as a deduction for a charitable contribu-
tion of apparently wholesome food which is inventory. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 5, 2003
Mr. BAKER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
special rules for determining the amount allowed as a 
deduction for a charitable contribution of apparently 
wholesome food which is inventory.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. CHARITABLE DEDUCTION FOR CONTRIBU-
TIONS OF FOOD INVENTORIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 170 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to certain 
contributions of ordinary income and capital gain prop-
erty) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(7) APPLICATION OF PARAGRAPH (3) TO CER-
TAIN
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF
FOOD
INVENTORY.—For 
purposes of this section—
‘‘(A) EXTENSION TO INDIVIDUALS.—In the 
case of a charitable contribution of apparently 
wholesome food—
‘‘(i) paragraph (3)(A) shall be applied 
without regard to whether the contribution 
is made by a C corporation, and
‘‘(ii) in the case of a taxpayer other 
than a C corporation, the aggregate 
amount of such contributions from any 
trade or business (or interest therein) of 
the taxpayer for any taxable year which 
may be taken into account under this sec-
tion shall not exceed 10 percent of the tax-
payer’s net income from any such trade or 
business, computed without regard to this 
section, for such taxable year. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON REDUCTION.—In the 
case of a charitable contribution of apparently 
wholesome food, notwithstanding paragraph 
(3)(B), the amount of the reduction determined
under paragraph (1)(A) shall not exceed the 
amount by which the fair market value of such 
property exceeds twice the basis of such prop-
erty. 
‘‘(C) DETERMINATION
OF
BASIS.—If a 
taxpayer—
‘‘(i) does not account for inventories 
under section 471, and 
‘‘(ii) is not required to capitalize indi-
rect costs under section 263A, 
the taxpayer may elect, solely for purposes of 
paragraph (3)(B), to treat the basis of any ap-
parently wholesome food as being equal to 25 
percent of the fair market value of such food. 
‘‘(D) DETERMINATION
OF
FAIR
MARKET 
VALUE.—In the case of a charitable contribu-
tion of apparently wholesome food which is a 
qualified contribution (within the meaning of 
paragraph (3), as modified by subparagraph 
(A) of this paragraph) and which, solely by rea-
son of internal standards of the taxpayer or 
lack of market, cannot or will not be sold, the 
fair market value of such contribution shall be 
determined—
‘‘(i) without regard to such internal 
standards or such lack of market, and 
‘‘(ii) by taking into account the price 
at which the same or substantially the 
same food items (as to both type and qual-
ity) are sold by the taxpayer at the time of 
the contribution (or, if not so sold at such 
time, in the recent past). 
‘‘(E) APPARENTLY WHOLESOME FOOD.—
For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘ap-
parently wholesome food’ has the meaning given 
such term by section 22(b)(2) of the Bill Emer-
son Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (42 
U.S.C. 1791(b)(2)), as in effect on the date of 
the enactment of this paragraph.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to contributions made after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ