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Discussion » Questions » Finance » Do you think it is ethical to claim a tax benefit after making a donation to charity?

Do you think it is ethical to claim a tax benefit after making a donation to charity?

Posted - August 13, 2018

Responses


  • 1502
    I personally don’t find it ethicsal. I donate to charity and I don’t claim it on taxes. 
      August 13, 2018 6:44 PM MDT
    2

  • 7919
    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. 
      August 13, 2018 7:20 PM MDT
    9

  • 5391
    Sure. The tax deduction is a nice benny that may encourage more or larger donations. The charities win. 

    Eliminate that deduction, then see how donations dwindle. 
      August 13, 2018 7:22 PM MDT
    4

  • 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....
      August 13, 2018 7:37 PM MDT
    3

  • 46117
    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. 
      August 13, 2018 8:10 PM MDT
    1

  • 19942
    As long as the Tax Code permits me to deduct charitable deductions from my taxes, I have no problem with the ethics of it.  
      August 13, 2018 9:32 PM MDT
    4

  • 17398
    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.
      August 14, 2018 3:50 PM MDT
    2

  • 7280
    If it's legal and it's moral, how can it not be ethical?
      August 14, 2018 4:19 PM MDT
    2

  • 17398
    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.  


      August 14, 2018 10:10 PM MDT
    2

  • 7280
    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.

    And that's way too much work.
      August 15, 2018 11:46 PM MDT
    1

  • 17398
    Not for me.  They are not the same thing, morals and ethics.  
      August 16, 2018 10:06 AM MDT
    0

  • 7280
    What's the phrase?, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.
      August 16, 2018 2:46 PM MDT
    0

  • 6023
    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.
      August 16, 2018 2:56 PM MDT
    0

  • 6023
    It is neither "ethical" nor "unethical".
    It is merely claiming an allowed deduction under the tax laws.
      August 16, 2018 2:58 PM MDT
    1