Provide a tax credit for charitable gifts to public infrastructure
SB 267 creates a new Montana income tax credit for charitable gifts made to certified public infrastructure projects. The credit equals 50% of the present value of the aggregate charitable gift made during the year, is capped at $500,000 per taxpayer, is nonrefundable, and may be carried forward for up to three years. To claim the credit, the taxpayer must receive a department-issued receipt tied to a certified project, and state or local governments receiving the gift must submit information needed to verify eligibility.
The bill defines a certified public infrastructure project as real property owned by the state or a local government and used to serve general public educational, health, or civic needs, including clinics, senior centers, libraries, museums, and public halls. It also states the policy purpose of encouraging private charitable support for government-owned facilities that serve the public and reduce costs that might otherwise fall to taxpayers. The act applies to income tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.
SB 267 also amends Montana’s tax-credit review statute, section 15-30-2303, MCA, to add this new charitable-gift credit to the list of credits that must be periodically reviewed by the revenue interim committee. That means the credit would be subject to the Legislature’s existing sunset-style evaluation process, including review criteria such as whether the credit changes taxpayer behavior, who benefits, whether there are out-of-state beneficiaries, and whether the economic benefits justify the cost.
The available voting history suggests the bill had some support in committee at one point, with an 8-0 vote on a motion to table in Senate Taxation, but the bill ultimately died in process. There are no committee transcript excerpts provided, so the record does not show detailed debate or specific arguments for and against the proposal. Overall, the bill appears to have been framed as a public-benefit tax incentive, but it did not advance to enactment.
SB 267 would have added a new income tax credit to Title 15 for charitable gifts to certified public infrastructure projects and incorporated that credit into Montana’s tax-credit review framework. It would have affected taxpayers making qualifying donations, state and local governments seeking to certify projects, and the Department of Revenue, which would have been responsible for certification and receipt issuance. The bill would also have amended section 15-30-2303, MCA, to require periodic legislative review of the new credit alongside other tax expenditures.
The bill’s stated purpose is positive and pro-public-benefit, emphasizing support for clinics, senior centers, libraries, museums, and similar facilities through charitable giving. The lack of committee transcript detail limits insight into broader debate, but the recorded 8-0 committee vote on a motion to table suggests the bill did not generate a recorded split at that stage. Despite that procedural vote, the measure ultimately died in process, indicating it did not secure enough momentum to move forward.
The main policy tension in SB 267 is between encouraging private donations for public facilities and the fiscal cost of creating a sizable tax credit. Supporters would likely view the credit as a way to leverage charitable giving for community infrastructure and reduce pressure on public budgets, while skeptics may have questioned whether the state should subsidize donations through the tax code, whether the benefit would be concentrated among higher-income taxpayers, and whether the credit would produce enough public value to justify lost revenue. The bill’s inclusion in the tax-credit review process reflects these concerns by subjecting it to future legislative scrutiny.