U.S. Chamber Urges Senate to Pass Legislation Allowing Taxpayers to Claim Haiti Contributions on 2009 Taxes

U.S. Chamber Urges Senate to Pass Legislation Allowing Taxpayers to Claim Haiti Contributions on 2009 Taxes
Business Contributions to Haiti Surge Past $83 Million

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for passing HR 4462 – allowing U.S. taxpayers to claim on their 2009 income tax returns any charitable contributions to Haiti relief programs up until March 1, 2010 – and urged the Senate to quickly pass this important legislation.

"The Haitian disaster has captured the sympathies of the citizens and businesses throughout America," said David Chavern, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the U.S. Chamber. "By making individual contributions tax deductible for 2009, Congress can provide all Americans with the ability to contribute to this worthy cause."

The Chamber's Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) reports that 203 companies have contributed more than $83 million as of 3 p.m. today, including cash and in-kind contributions, and 36 of these companies have donated $1 million or more. Already, 36 corporate donors have pledged $1 million or more in cash or a mix of cash and in-kind support, including:

• Abbott ($2.5 million)
• Bank of America ($1 million)
• Baxter International Inc. ($1 million)
• Citigroup, Inc. ($2 million)
• Comcast Corporation ($1 million)
• FedEx Corporation ($1 million)
• GlaxoSmithKline ($1.8 million)
• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ($1 million)
• Google Inc. ($1 million)
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. ($1 million)
• UPS ($1 million)
• Microsoft Corporation ($1.25 million)

For a complete list of donors visit:
http://www.USChamber.com/BCLC/Haiti_CorporateDonations.

The Chamber's BCLC continues to serve as the coordination hub for corporate disaster response, providing regular updates around-the-clock. It has received more than 750 individual requests from various partners, and continues to operate the Office Depot Foundation-sponsored Help Desk (1-888-MY-BIZ-HELP, bclchelpdesk@uschamber.com), document corporate aid contributions, and share information with the public and relevant partners about the current state of corporate disaster aid contributions.

"Given the swiftness of the response, we expect this will end up being one of the largest corporate responses to an international disaster in modern history," said Chavern. "Companies are clearly recognizing that they have a vital role to play."

Corporate donations have become a crucial component to disaster recovery. The largest amount of corporate aid ever mobilized for an international disaster is $566 million, donated in response to the 2004 Southeast Asia Tsunami. More information is available at http://www.USChamber.com/BCLC. Follow BCLC's Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/chamberbclc) and blog (http://bclc.chamberpost.com/) for the most current news.

BCLC, a 501(c) 3 affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a resource and voice for business' social and philanthropic interests. BCLC's Disaster Assistance and Recovery Program, Underwritten by Allstate, Office Depot Foundation and UPS, facilitates effective private-sector contributions to U.S. and international disaster response and recovery efforts.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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