WASHINGTON — Suburban Torah in Livingston offers free parking for its employees.

Under the Republican tax law signed by President President Donald Trump, the synagogue soon will have to pay taxes for providing this “benefit.”

“I really doubt anybody thought that when a secretary parked her car at our synagogue, that would be a taxable event,” said Suburban Torah’s rabbi, Elie Mischel.

But it is.

In addition to targeting New Jersey and other high-tax states by capping the federal deduction for state and local taxes, the tax legislation signed into law in December 2017 imposed a 21-percent tax on the value of fringe benefits that houses of worship and charities offer their employees.

The tax applies to things such as as free parking, employer-subsidized transit fares and even flexible spending accounts such as the pre-tax deductions for mass transportation expenses, said Linda Czipo, president and chief executive of the statewide Center for Non-Profits in Mercerville.

“This is going to be extraordinarily burdensome and expensive for nonprofits,” Czipo said. “They’re imposing an income tax on something that’s an expense and and an income tax is supposed to be a tax on income. If you owe tax, you didn’t budget for it. Most small nonprofits don’t have it in their budget.”

A bill signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy earlier this month may make things even more costly for nonprofits. Under the new law, all employers with more than 20 workers must now offer transit accounts to their employees, allowing them to set aside money from their paychecks before taxes are taken out.

Legislation introduced by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., would eliminate the tax, making up the revenue by raising the corporate tax from 21 percent to 21.03 percent.

“If we do nothing, working Americans will be dealing with the consequences of the Republican tax cuts for the wealthy for years,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., a bill co-sponsor. “This is an important step in correcting the GOP’s recklessness.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist., a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said the provision was another thing to hate about the Republican tax law.

“Under the GOP tax scam law, parishioners and worshippers now must pay new taxes on simple things like travel expenses and even on parking spaces,” said Pascrell. “On top of the diminished charitable deduction, the GOP took from those who serve our communities to fund tax breaks for the rich. Jesus said, ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’”

The Trump administration is working on ways to fix the problem administratively, according to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who said he raised the issue with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“They indicated to us they were going to have regulations,” Grassley told a group of reporters in his office. “If you had slots for every single individual, then it may be a problem for you but If you’ve got general parking and your employees can park there, it shouldn’t be a problem. They indicated to me they were writing rules accordingly."

Those regulations could the cover 99 percent of the groups that otherwise would be affected, said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee and its former chairman.

“If a reasonable amount of your parking is available to the public, it doesn’t count,” Brady told reporters at the Capitol.

The House last year voted to make changes to the 2017 tax law, including making permanent the cap on deducting state and local taxes and repealing this tax. The Senate never brought it up.

Brady said he would support a legislative solution to this issue.

“For some, they want just a clean repeal,” Brady said. “We’re open to working with Treasury, Chairman Grassley and Democrats to get to a good solution.”

There is an urgency to get something done quickly. Some organizations may have to pay estimated taxes and the first installment is due April 15. And many still may not even know that they are subject to the new levy.

“I didn’t realize it actually impacted us personally,” Mischel said. “It really shows how absurd the law is.”

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.