Tax deductions for charitable giving

[gwine]

It won't be long before most of us will be getting our W-2 forms, 1099s and others. A few comments and questions for everyone.

For a while in the past I decided not to deduct the amount I had given to charity because I felt that somehow it was mocking God in some way. But as I thought more about the institution of civil government I decided that maybe I was denying God's sovereignty.

Plus, if you gave $5000 a year to charity you could decrease your federal tax bite by $1250 if you were in the 25% bracket. So if you were going to give $5000 a year and didn't deduct it you could give $6666.67 and claim the deduction and not lose out. Wait a minute - this is the logic my college alma mater uses!

(side note: check with your tax advisor before doing anything like this)

So my questions are :

1. Do you deduct your charitable giving? (I do)

2. Would you do it if charities weren't tax deductible? (I would)

3. The same amount? (I would)

I have mixed feelings about the system in general, because I don't like to see some of the groups getting money because they are tax deductible (think some of the arts.) But maybe it is better to allow such.

4. Do you think the church would be better off if tax deductions were not allowed? Of course, this would mean that churches would be subject to the same taxation as companies.

I await your comments and debates. I might have to bring in Paul and Andrew to help me in the debating arena, though. :bigsmile:

[Edited on 1-21-2005 by gwine]

 

[satz]

i can't really think why i would be wrong to include the relevant deductions in your tax returns...

Now if your giving was based upon getting these deductions as some form of financial planning there might be a problem, but if you just give as your conscience dictates, and some of those courses have deductions attached to them, why not claim?

Its the government itself that sets the allowances after all.

 

[wsw201]

Answers to Questions:

1. Yes
2. Yes, I would and have given to charities that were not tax deductable.
3. Yes
4. The church would not necessarily be better off but would survive.

 

[turmeric]

I've wondered about this myself, aren't we not supposed to be telling people how much we give. If we do it in secret, as Jesus suggests in the Gospel of Matthew, won't our Father reward us openly?

 

[Dan....]

I've wondered about this myself, aren't we not supposed to be telling people how much we give. If we do it in secret, as Jesus suggests in the Gospel of Matthew, won't our Father reward us openly?

It matters what the motivation is. Those to whom Jesus refered in Mt 6:2 were publicly announcing how much they were giving so that they might gain the respect of men.

Reporting to the IRS the amount given to your church and other charities is different. The motivation isn't to gain the respect of the IRS, rather the motivation is to not pay the government more than is required of us.

[Edited on 21-1-2005 by Dan....]