Posted by PseudoWealthy on May 05, 2003 at 02:01:05:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Saving Orchestras posted by angry on May 04, 2003 at 21:55:06:
According to your book, I probably belong to the "wealthy" category - though I'm not "filthy" rich by any stretch. I personally haven't seen any massive tax cut. I have seen a huge decrease in my income - in fact I've had a negative income (an "outgo") for the past two years - thanks largely to ridiculous policies of a previous president. Such as - "let's rip apart one of this country's most successful companies - it's just not fair that a company is that successful - it must be doing something illegal!"
Having an "outgo" doesn't mean I didn't pay any tax though. Far from it. I paid lots of taxes but have a huge capital loss that can only be used to offset future capital gains - not this year's ordinary income. The tax man insists on being paid immediately but makes the tax payer wait to reap the "benefit" of a big loss.
I personally find it much easier to donate large sums of money when I have money coming into my pocket - not being taken out. People don't donate money to avoid paying the tax man. Think about it: does it make sense to donate $1,000 so your taxes are reduced by $300? Nope. You end up down $1,000 instead of down $300. People donate money because they believe in the cause. Sure, saving the $300 on your taxes makes it easier to donate. By the same token, if the government didn't seize such a big percentage to begin with it'd be even easier to donate.
If the IRS didn't take 30% to 40% of my income every year I'd have a whole lot more to donate to things I care about.
By the way, donations are _less_ of a write off for the wealthy than for the average Joe. The tax code reduces your deductions as your income goes up. When I donate $1000 I end up with a net deduction of about $850.
Lest you think I'm just some "rich" snob - when I started graduate school I had $400 to my name. After paying rent and buying books my wife and I had to take out a loan to buy a mattress. Our only other furniture was a card table and folding chairs from my grandmother. At the end of September - before receiving my first check as a teaching assistant - we had 25 cents - not even enough to do a load of laundry.
It's easy to be angry at people when you have no clue what you're talking about....