Oregon Law Review : Vol. 87 No. 4, p.1133-1182 : From the Greedy to the Needy

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Date

2008

Authors

Gerzog, Wendy C.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon School of Law

Abstract

In some instances when a taxpayer makes a charitable donation, the loss of revenue to the government, and the corresponding gain to the taxpayer, far exceeds the benefit to the charity. Some of these losses may be generated by government-sanctioned complex transactions and even government-created devices. This Article analyzes various charitable donations in terms of the dollars gained by the taxpayer, the dollars lost by the government, and the dollars received by the charity. After considering a sliding scale of benefits to the charities in light of the revenue losses to the government and taxpayer gains, this Article makes some normative conclusions about whether the good a donor does justifies his currently available tax benefits and then proposes some solutions.

Description

50 p.

Keywords

Income tax deductions for charitable contributions, Charitable giving

Citation