WASHINGTON – Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin has joined in introducing legislation that would increase tax incentives for charitable contributions to encourage greater medical research into some of the nation's most destructive diseases.

"Medical research is critical to developing new therapies that will reduce illnesses and lower death rates. Our tax laws should be amended to provide more favorable treatment of contributions to medical research in order to increase the amount of charitable giving to medical research. We stand on the threshold of important medical discoveries that could yield new treatments or even cures for diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Millions of Americans stand to benefit from medical research that could alter the course of their diseases," said Rep. Cardin.

Currently, some 16 million people in the United States suffer from diabetes, one of the leading causes of kidney failure, blindness and amputations. It shortens the average life expectancy by 15 years and costs the nation more than $100 billion a year. Cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes claimed almost one million lives in 1997, and each year more than 500,000 Americans die of cancer.

The Medical Research Investment Act, HR 744, would:

• Encourage charitable gifts for medical research by increasing the limitation on deductions from 50% to 80% of adjusted gross income for charitable gifts of cash or property made exclusively for medical research;
• Extend the carry-forward from five to 10 years for excess charitable gifts for those who give more than 80% in a year;
• Stop penalizing taxpayers who give away stock from incentive stock options. Now, taxpayers who exercise their option to purchase stock and give the stock or sales proceeds to charity within a year have to pay income taxes at almost a 40% rate. The bill would allow taxpayers to give away their stock for medical research without this penalty. No ordinary income, capital gain or alternative minimum tax would be imposed on medical research gifts.