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section 17012 or that Congress intended to overturn the long line
of cases (cited above) holding that no part of tuition paid to
religious schools is deductible as a charitable contribution.13
We believe that, if Congress had intended to overturn decades of
caselaw disallowing charitable contribution deductions for
tuition payments to schools providing a religious and secular
education, Congress would have made such an intention clear. It
did not.
12 See H. Conf. Rept. 103-213, at 566 (1993), 1993-3 C.B.
393, 444, stating that the sec. 6115 disclosure requirement “does
not apply to transactions that have no donative element (e.g.,
sales of goods by a museum gift shop that are not, in part,
donations).” Thus, a charitable organization need not make a
sec. 6115 disclosure if the taxpayer did not intend to make a
gift.
13 See H. Conf. Rept. 103-213, supra at 566 n.34, 1993-3
C.B. at 444, stating that the exception to the substantiation
requirement for an intangible religious benefit “does not apply,
for example, to tuition for education leading to a recognized
degree, travel services, or consumer goods.” Along the same
lines, H. Rept. 103-111, supra at 786 n.170, 1993-3 C.B. at 362,
states:
The committee intends that, in the case of
religious organizations, a quid pro quo contribution
(for purposes of the substantiation and disclosure
requirements) is limited to an exchange of goods or
services that are generally available on a commercial
basis, or advertised for an established price (e.g.,
tuition, travel and entertainment, and consumer goods).
No inference is intended, however, whether or not any
contribution outside of the scope of the bill’s
substantiation or reporting requirements is deductible
(in full or in part) under the present-law requirements
of section 170.
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