BornToFarm wrote:

Why just churches?  I would be in favor of doing away with all 501c3  organizations.   They are the biggest tax dodge around.  I'm not saying do away with them.  Just get rid of the their tax exempt status.

My biggest beef of course is with foundations. When you think about it, when a person pays into their own foundation, it is just taking money from their left hand and putting it in their right hand, and getting a tax deduction for doing it.  They still control what happens to the money.   Don't do away with foundations, just get rid of their tax exempt status.   

 

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While I agree that it is a tax dodge, what would happen to the good works and charity that legitimate foundations offer to the world if no one could write ANY of their charity off ??

Agreed that the rules need to be tightened up so that the offenses by some foundations are stopped.  But to potentially destroy foundations that depend on charity donations to do their good work concerns me … BIG TIME.
 

BornToFarm wrote:

Siagiah wrote:

While I agree that it is a tax dodge, what would happen to the good works and charity that legitimate foundations offer to the world if no one could write ANY of their charity off ??

Agreed that the rules need to be tightened up so that the offenses by some foundations are stopped.  But to potentially destroy foundations that depend on charity donations to do their good work concerns me … BIG TIME.
 

Most of the little people like me don't make have enough income to itemize deductions, so it would never be a problem for us.  The few years that I did make enough to itemize, I don't remember making a donation based on whether it was deductible of not.    Is that a big deal for you? I don't think that would affect whether you gave or not.

Foundations would not be destroyed by doing away with their tax exempt status.   It would just cease to be a huge loophole for the rich to avoid taxes.  The would still operate as they always do, they would just pay taxes like any other organization.   It would however force the high income folks to pay taxes.

But, the country has a history of shielding charities from taxes.  I doubt many rich politicians could be persuaded to even out the tax playing field.

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Actually, it WOULD stop lots and lots of rich folks from donating to them.  Sadly, it is a well known fact that charity donations being tax deductible is highly motivating to folks who donate the most.

You have a working farm, I'm shocked that you don't itemize ??
 

BornToFarm wrote:

Siagiah wrote:

Actually, it WOULD stop lots and lots of rich folks from donating to them.  Sadly, it is a well known fact that charity donations being tax deductible is highly motivating to folks who donate the most.

You have a working farm, I'm shocked that you don't itemize ??
 

Not quite sure what you mean here.  I do write off my farm expenses, but that is on Schedule F.  But, I don't use Schedule A where personal itemized deductions are claimed because it is better to use the standard deduction.  Only a couple of years when I had another business that actually made a lot of money was it better to itemize.

But back to those rich folks...How else do we get them to pay their fair share?  Using the current rates, they would pay a whole lot more if they couldn't itemize.  Doesn't matter how high the rate is, if they can itemize, they won't be paying on it.
 

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It's not just the ultra rich who'll pay a BOATLOAD more without itemizing, no less than HALF of the middle class would also lose their ability to itemize deductions and would get SOCKED HARD with those changes. 

Thing is, the ultra rich would STILL get out of paying as much because they have other options for keeping their tax rates way down or non-existent.