Are Taxes Part Of Your Charitable Donations...

[Scout]

My wife and I were going through our budget and discussing what % we give to charity and we started talking about the fact that a large part of our income taxes (state and Fed) go towards charitable needs. (Everything from Sandy relief, third world countries, veterans, art programs, homeless...).

So we were took another look at the 30% we pay in income tax and thinking, we already budget 5% for charity, but 10-20% of our taxes is basically another form of charitable giving. So with that logic we are giving 15-25% of our income to charity, plus the charitable activities we do.

So do you just consider taxes as part of your charitable contributions and stop donating or is this just mental justification to no longer budget $50 a year in girl scout cookies...

Thoughts...

 

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[tchandy]

To put it another way, charitable deductions are a part of my taxes. My wife and I tithe and there may be other donations we make each year. 15-25% does seem like a lot but can you afford to donate that much? If so, then that's fine. If not, then you may want to talk to your wife and see where to cut back.

Tom

 

[awkwardgenius]

Are Taxes Part Of Your Charitable Donations...

Taxes are revenue extracted from you under threat of violence. If you don't pay, men with guns eventually show up and lock you in a cage. If you do pay them, you receive assorted "benefits". A warm feeling about whatever social programs you happen to support, a form of "protection" from police, a certain amount of road maintenance, etc...much like the mafia provides its victims with certain benefits when they pay tribute and may even be beloved by certain segments of the community. It's a bit like stockholm syndrome.

They aren't motivated to provide value like a business, but they know they have to maintain a certain amount of pretense to keep everyone complacent enough that they aren't overrun, or ousted by a competing gang. And as long as you keep paying the protection money, nothing "unfortunate" happens to you or those you love.

So no, it's not charity...and you should do everything you can to avoid supporting this gang of thugs, without putting yourself or your family at undue risk. The more money you keep, the more you can use to help those around you, or to give to real charities that don't extract their donations at gunpoint.

 

[Antonioac]

I like the thread. Overall, my wife and I tithe (1st and 2nd) and give more to our church and people we know that need assistance. A large portion of your taxes definitely go towards charitable activities. We aren't strict about 3rd tithe because of this. Affordability is the big question, budget and go from there.

 

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[Scout]

and you should do everything you can to avoid supporting this gang of thugs

Well said, we try to keep our taxes as low as possible. But I wonder as taxes continue to increase will people be forced to donate less to keep thier budgets balanced. As tax rates head up to 40%-60% of your income what will it do to small charities that survive on donations..

It seems people will choose a dollar amount rather than a % of their income (rather than 5% of my income I'll give $500 total) or folks will just drop money donations and just move to giving time to local communities. Which is good but makes it difficult to help if events occur in different geographical areas...

 

[Antonioac]

That's a valid concern. As tax rates increase, citizens will have less income to spend on anything. There will be further reliance on government for charity. This is a problem in itself. My wife and I will always tithe (1st and 2nd) but I'm sure we will have to make some difficult decisions. Charitable organizations will feel the squeeze, as will small businesses. Charity will have to be accomplished on an individual basis by sharing what you have (wisdom, food, shelter, etc..). Just my thoughts...

 

[Scout]

Funny you use the word "tithe" I was just checking the definition and it ends with "compulsory tax to government"

tithe (pron.: /ˈtaɪð/; from Old English: teogoþa "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government.

 

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