The US Senate on Thursday passed a bill allowing donations for Haitian earthquake victims to be deducted from taxpayers' 2009 returns.

The legislation, which was already endorsed by the House of Representatives a day before, will be sent to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Under the newly-passed bill, donations made by the end of February to Haiti can be written off from donors' 2009 returns this spring, instead of waiting until next year to be deducted from 2010 returns under current law.

Through Wednesday, the American Red Cross had received a total of US$137 million donated for Haiti relief efforts by the American public, according to the organization's spokesman Roger Lowe.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2010)