WatchI remember reading that when the top marginal tax rates go down, that charitable contributions go down with it.
Also, during the recession I saw a lot of scared rich people doing lots of scared things...dumping stocks, for example.
However, the conservative argument requires that if the Government got out of the business of helping the poor, that private charitable organizations would perform the work.
How would Churches and non-profits succeed if they, like everyone else, suffered from investments tanking and a sudden drop in revenue? Where would they get the money to help the poor or economic victims?
Also, does anyone have any information regarding tax rates and charity to prove or disprove the premise?
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I think we need to redefine "Charity", a Charity shouldn't be a Job.
If you're going to ask for my time and money, then I expect you to do the same. A Charity shouldn't be lucrative for the administrators, or the canvassers that are paid by percentage. They shouldn't have high paid marketers, and they shouldn't be Print shops biggest most lucrative clients.
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Slightly off-topic, but could Patrick.Net become a non-profit for which donations would become charitable deductions?
Are there many blogs and the like that are structured as non-profits?
Patrick would be the executive director and could pay himself a salary.
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501 is exempt- non profit, only a (c)(3) is treated as a non-exempt eligible for tax deduction.
501(c)(3) Corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment), or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h) ), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.
so no, this site cannot be a 501(c)3. It does not meet the brightline test "operated for educational purpose."
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One thing I have found:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/11/19/why-obama-pushes-higher-rates-vs-deduction-limit/
"Any deduction cap that touches charitable contributions will stir a political storm from universities, hospitals, museums and social-service agencies; any deduction cap that exempts charitable giving will raise less money for the Treasury, about a third less, according to the Tax Policy Center’s estimates. (One side observation rarely noted in public: Charities love high tax rates. Higher tax rates provide a bigger incentive for donors to give: At a 36% tax rate, $10,000 contribution saves the donor $3,600 in federal income taxes; at a 39.6% rate, it saves $3,960.)"
But, I wonder if we could see a graph somewhere that shows it actually declining as top marginal rates decline?
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SFace says
I'm not so sure. Patrick is educating the public about the ins and outs of the housing market. Why is that not an "educational purpose".
There must be 100s or 1000s of organizations that are mainly political, but hide behind non-profit status. Here is a long list of them
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Non-profit_organizations_based_in_Washington,_D.C.
That list includes the Heritage Foundation, which in my book is a right-wing political outlet. How could Patrick.Net possibly not pass muster as a non-profit, if the Heritage Foundation does?
Patrick.Net educates the public about the dangers of debt slavery !!
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justme says
The distinction is: not-for-profit vs. not for profit tax exempt. It can still be not for profit. 501c1, 501c2, 501,c4, 501c5. The organizitions you noted above are probably 501c6.
It's just not a 501(c)(3) ("Non-profit, tax exempt") so the doner is eligible for a tax deduction. I think the brightline test for education purpose is quite obvious what that means and not means.
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SFace,
The Heritage Foundation claims to be Tax Exempt. I think Patrick.Net would and should get the same treatment.
Reference:
http://www.heritage.org/about/heritage-membership/membership
By becoming a member of The Heritage Foundation with your tax-deductible donation of $25 or more, you will join hundreds of thousands of conservatives around the nation in supporting our work to build an America where freedom, prosperity, opportunity and civil society flourish.
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Here is a case of an online newspaper being a 501c3 tax-exempt, tax-deductible organization.
http://www.501c3lawblog.com/wp/news/the-news-makes-news/
http://sfpublicpress.org/
Patrick, are you interested at all in being an educational foundation?
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Oh, by the way, being a non-profit does not mean that the employees do not get paid for their work. It just means that there are no shareholders, no dividends, and no "profit motive".
I suspect that a good many "non-profits" exist just as much for the benefit of the people that work there as for the good deeds that they (generally) do.
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Another example: DemocracyNow.org is a news organization which is also a 501c3.
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Poobah Pat could establish the PatNet as a 501c6 dedicated to the elimination of criminally insane cults that have distorted the housing market like the NAR and Federal Reserve.