Taxes are a legal obligation. I see myself as having a moral obligation to pay the amount I'm expected to pay. I claim every deduction I'm entitled to, and that includes donations.
I don't claim them so that it stays between God and me. "Claiming" them is telling others about my good deeds and expecting the gifts back from taxpayers. What God sees me do in secret....
I see where you are coming from, but no, I do not. Here is why. First off, I see that you think maybe that you are profiting from your charity and that negates the intent. Understood. However, if you feel that you are getting a kickback, simply donate a little more that the kickback affords.
Finally, I hate the way the government is run where the underlying idea is that we are responsible for everyone's problems. I mean I go into the grocery store and I am asked by the cashier to donate to the army, navy, marines, sick children, education, all the things that OBAMA HAD IN PLACE ALREADY.
Now I am supposed to take care of everyone? Tell the idiots who voted for TRUMP to pay for it.
Anyway, that said, I donate to charity and I will take my refund. I donate time and I donate whatever I think I can. That is all I am responsible for. If I get some back, I am able to donate more.
No. You are asking for the government to reimburse you for your charity. That interferes with the personal joy of giving. It is legal. It is moral. But I don't think it is ethical.
It isn't unusual to feel that something is right or wrong (morals) but even if moral not adapt it into your own set of comfortable behaviors. Moral and ethic are not synonyms. This is something many people struggle with in their lives. Also the law is full of allowances which many feel are immoral, unethical, or both. It also is full of prohibitions that many feel are moral and/or ethical. I had ethics classes in both college and law school. And then there was philosophy. Most professions operate within a code of ethics where you would most probably not find allowance for illegalities. However, many members of such professions have personal conflicts with some of the ethics. They must, however, operate within such code.
I hesitated to post my first comment on your answer above because there is currently no agreement on the definitions of these words.
E.g., Generally, the terms ethics and morality are used interchangeably, although a few different communities (academic, legal, or religious, for example) will occasionally make a distinction. ... Both morality and ethics loosely have to do with distinguishing the difference between “good and bad” or “right and wrong.”
But to continue would involve Aquinas on law in general and the virtue of epikeia.
I don't think of it as "asking for the government to reimburse" me.
I think of it as ... I'm giving money directly to charities which save the government from having to spend so much on the same thing. And the government is notoriously inefficient when it comes to charity.