$108.28

[JohnH]

Probably should not say this

I give regularly to my church and have served as church treasurer for many years. (I only provide that info as a disclaimer for what I'm about to say next).

If it were up to me, among the radical changes I'd make to the tax code would be to completely eliminate the deduction for all charitable contributions.

[taxmandan]

They tried that once

I give regularly to my church and have served as church treasurer for many years. (I only provide that info as a disclaimer for what I'm about to say next).

If it were up to me, among the radical changes I'd make to the tax code would be to completely eliminate the deduction for all charitable contributions.

I believe it was sometime in the early '70s or so that the deduction for charitable giving was eliminated, briefly. The drop in contributions to charities was so high that several national organizations were almost done in. Political pressure quickly returned the deduction to the Sch A.

[Black Bart]

Why

.

...among the radical changes I'd make to the tax code would be to completely eliminate the deduction for all charitable contributions.

would you want to do that?

Charities are trying to do good works for the welfare of the general public. Shouldn't we encourage and support their efforts by whatever means possible?

[JohnH]

H-m-m-m

I was preparing tax returns in the early 70's, and I don't remember any radical change in the contributions deduction. But then I've forgotten lots of things since the 70's anyhow.

As for the "why", I don't think it's the role of government to subsidize charities or religious organizations etc through the tax system. This is just another example of social engineering, where some elected officials decide what is good for society and then manipulate the tax code to try and encourage or discourage certain behaviors. Following that logic, I'd also eliminate the mortgage interest deduction, property tax deduction, and exemptions & credits for dependents as well, and for the same reasons (but that would be another discussion altogether) . Let me add that eliminating these tax incentives would also require lowering the tax rates as an offset.

I think tax-motivated giving decisions partially obscure the primary purpose of giving in the first place. The money changes hands but the lesson is often lost. All charities might be more effective if they were required to focus on justifying their mission and not confuse the matter with side issues like the tax deductions (or lack thereof). We should give to whatever causes we feel led to support without regard for what it gets us on the back side, or whether the tax deduction lowers the net cost of our giving.. With lower tax rates, there would be more available to give and there would not even need to be any consideration of whether the particular cause has the blessing of the government (implied to expressed).