Senate panel considers bill allowing organ donor election on state income tax returns
RALEIGH — A bill scheduled for review Wednesday in the Senate Health Care Committee would allow North Carolina resident taxpayers to register as organ and tissue donors through their state income tax returns.
House Bill 565, titled “Check Yes, Save Lives,” was amended through three editions in the House and received a sequential referral Tuesday adding the Senate Judiciary Committee after Health Care. The bill was listed on Wednesday’s Senate Health Care Committee agenda.
The bill would require the state income tax return form to include an organ and tissue donation election section. That section would allow a resident taxpayer, and a spouse if applicable, to authorize organ and tissue donation in the event of death.
The form would have to explain that the taxpayer or spouse is authorizing an anatomical gift of organs, eyes and tissue to take effect after death. It would also have to state that a taxpayer is not required to answer the organ and tissue donation question to file a return, pay taxes or receive a refund.
The proposal would also require the form to describe how a taxpayer or spouse could amend or revoke the donor election. The secretary of revenue would be authorized to request information needed to complete the donor election through the income tax return process.
The bill would allow the Department of Revenue to share information about people who elect to become organ and tissue donors with the Division of Motor Vehicles, organ procurement organizations and organizations responsible for maintaining donor authorization lists.
Current law allows anatomical gifts to be made through methods including a driver’s license or identification card, a will or other legally recognized means. House Bill 565 would add an income tax return election as another method for making an anatomical gift, though gifts made through the tax-return method would not include donation of the donor’s body.
The bill passed second reading in the House on April 30, 2025, by a vote of 110-1. It was later sent to the Senate, where it was re-referred to Health Care in June 2025 before this week’s additional Judiciary referral.
The measure is a public health and state records bill rather than a broad health care spending bill. Its practical effect would be to create another point of contact for residents to join the organ and tissue donor registry, while requiring coordination among tax, transportation and donor registry systems.
Editor’s note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
