Just 2 weeks after it proposed a new rule to block state efforts to circumvent the $10,000 state and local tax deductions limit (SALT), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this week clarified that companies that make business-related payments to charities or government entities may at times write off those donations as normal business expenses, just not as charitable contributions. The issue comes from the belief that the new rule, aimed at high-tax state efforts to allow SALT payments to qualify for charitable deductions, also captured existing programs (many believed to be in ‘red states’) where tax credits were allowed for contributions to favored programs for the common good, such as school voucher initiatives and other similar type programs. Now, with the latest IRS clarification, some of those programs funded by corporate and business giving may have been protected from loss of business philanthropic contributions. Confused? Well, expect more “IRS clarifications” to come in the future.