New Tax Credit Offers Living Organ Donors Up to $5,000 to Cover Lost Wages and Travel Costs

The new Living Organ Donor Tax Credit Act is straightforward: If you donate a kidney, part of your liver, bone marrow, or another qualifying organ while you’re alive, the federal government wants to help you cover the costs. Specifically, this bill creates a brand-new federal income tax credit, capped at $5,000 per donation, designed to reimburse living donors for expenses they incur because of their donation. This includes travel, lodging, medical costs related to the donation and follow-up care, and critically, any wages lost while recovering or dealing with the transplant process (Sec. 2).

The $5,000 Cap: Making Donation Affordable

When someone decides to be a living donor, the hospital bills for the procedure are usually covered by the recipient’s insurance. The real financial hit often comes from everything else—the logistics. Think about a construction worker needing three weeks off work without pay, or a software engineer who has to fly across the country for the procedure and pay for hotel stays for their family. This new credit targets those out-of-pocket costs, which can easily run into thousands of dollars, acting as a significant barrier for many potential donors.

For example, if you’re a parent who takes two weeks of unpaid leave and spends $1,500 on airfare and hotels to donate a kidney to a relative, you can claim those lost wages and travel costs against your federal tax bill, up to the $5,000 limit. The bill clarifies that a "qualified life-saving organ" includes kidneys, liver, lung, pancreas, intestine, or bone marrow, and the donation must happen within the U.S. (Sec. 2).

Navigating the Double-Dip Rule

This new tax credit is designed to work alongside existing support programs, but not overlap with them. The bill explicitly states that if you claim this tax credit, you cannot also receive a grant from the Federal living organ donation program (under the Public Health Service Act) for the same expenses. Essentially, you have to choose your reimbursement mechanism: the tax credit or the federal grant. For most people, the credit might be the simpler route, but it’s important to know you can’t double-dip. Furthermore, the bill is clear that this tax credit is not considered illegal payment for an organ under the National Organ Transplant Act, removing a potential legal hurdle and confirming the credit is only for expense reimbursement, not payment for the organ itself.

What This Means for Everyday Life

In the real world, this bill could genuinely increase the number of living donors. When you remove the financial penalty of lost wages and travel, the decision to donate becomes purely medical and personal, rather than an economic hardship. This is a big deal, especially for lower and middle-income families where taking several weeks of unpaid leave is often impossible. The changes apply to tax years starting after the Act becomes law, meaning donors will need to keep meticulous records of their travel, lodging, and lost wages to claim the credit when they file their taxes.