NCUA’s Proposed Charity Rule Sees CU Support
The proposed rule would add war veterans’ organizations to qualified charities.
Officials with CUNA filed comments in the Federal Register in support of the NCUA’s proposed rule to amend the charitable donation accounts portion of the incidental powers regulation to include “war veterans’ organizations” to the definition of “qualified charity” that credit unions may contribute to using their charitable donation account.
The NCUA board approved the proposed rule during its May meeting to add veterans’ organizations as defined by the Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(19) and aligned it “with the purposes of the current charitable donation account rule.”
In a comment letter filed Tuesday, CUNA Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel Luke Martone said the organization supports federal credit unions using a Charitable Donation Account (CDA) to contribute to the expanded definitions of “qualified charities.”
“We reached out to the NCUA last year to advocate for inclusion of ‘veterans’ organizations’ in the definition of ‘qualified charity’ for purposes of the CDA rule,” Martone wrote. “Aside from our belief that veterans’ organizations are of such importance as to be worthy of inclusion in the ‘qualified charity’ definition, the impetus for our advocacy was direct feedback from our member credit unions.”
CUNA stated it had asked for a similar rule expansion since June 2022.
When the proposed rule was approved by the NCUA board in May, Chairman Todd Harper said, “Within the credit union system, we have many credit unions with fields of membership that specialize in serving military branches, military bases and defense-related organizations. With this proposed rule change, we will allow them to better serve their members and to fulfill their missions. That’s good for veterans, good for military families, good for credit union members, good for credit unions and good for our country.”
Martone’s letter also requested the NCUA add the following types of non-profit organizations to the expanded list of qualified charities:
- 501(c)(4): Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees.
- 501(c)(6): Business Leagues, Chambers of Commerce, and Real Estate Boards.
- 501(c)(7): Social and Recreational Clubs.
- 501(c)(29): Qualified Nonprofit Health Insurance Issuers.
Comments for the proposed rule are due by Monday, July 31.