The last long weekend of the summer now behind us, we start into our regular FUBar schedule with a 'briefing' from The Economist on Charity and Taxes.
Virtually every developed country treats charitable organizations differently from profit-making organizations in its tax system, and most treat private donations to charities differently from other types of individual expenditures in their personal income tax code. The fundamental question in the attached piece is: what justifies this asymmetric treatment? The article does a good job of summarizing all the usual arguments for and against the tax-subsidy for personal donations.
It also mentions the fact that in many countries (including the US and...I think...Canada) designated charitable organizations are also exempt from paying property taxes, but then seems to imply by omission that the arguments for/against this tax break are similar to those for the treatment of donations. It seems to me these two 'tax breaks' have different effects, and require rather different arguments.
See what you think, and......see you @ the FUBar.
