Sorry but this statement is wrong, maybe you were using sarcasm and i did not catch ot but rich people do both of those things to catch a tax break. Perfect example, my aunt and uncle eother needed to get a car loan or remortgage their house or they get hit with large income taxes. They also donate to avoid getting hit with a huge bill come tax time. And donating while not gaining anything, if you are smart about it wont cost ya all that much, just my 2¢
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Rich people give because they want to. It still costs you money to give.
If you make millions per year, you're pretty much paying 40% on all your income to the federal government.
So, your salary is 10 million.
You give 500k away as deductible charitable donations.
That makes your taxable income 9.5 million now.
The 500k you gave to charity, had you kept it, you could have put 60% (300k) in your pocket.
Charitable donations cost you more money than taxes.
People donate because it's the right thing to do.
As with the mortgage interest deduction, it is small. Interest is low these days. It's spread out over 15 to 30 years. It is front heavy, but there again, this is an activity to be encouraged.
Neither one of these constitutes welfare. People taking advantage of this would be just fine without it.