Aaron Slodounik

2153 days ago

The new tax law, and especially the doubling of the standard deduction, may indeed decrease charitable giving as fewer taxpayers itemize than in years past, but it probably won’t do much to change the dynamics described here. Elites will continue to enjoy outsized benefits from the policy and will continue to bestow these benefits on the organizations they care about, the majority of which do comparatively little to support the poor. Meanwhile, charities’ efforts to protect the deduction have insulated it from reform—or even critique.

By giving greater relief to the highest earners, the charitable deduction disadvantages charities which protect the most vulnerable

blogs.lse.ac.uk

As part of its $1.5 trillion tax cut last year Congress doubled the standard deduction that taxpayers are eligible to take. Many US charities are worried that this will decrease their incomes by reducing the number of people who itemize their deductions.