General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: End the Tax Exempt Status of Churches! [View all]HenryWallace
(332 posts)Are you really advocating expanding "taxable income" to include member contributions toward the program & operating costs of these organizations?
There is already a tax on certain unrelated business income earned by these organizations and I suppose it could be expanded to include investment income (i.e., endowment earnings).
The people of the United States are the most generous in the world for one reason, our taxing system provides a limited income tax deduction and an unlimited estate tax deduction.
It is rare that a middle class individual exceeds the standard deduction. Therefore, who really benefits from the Charitable Contribution Deduction; its the wealth (a large percentage of what they give would have gone to the Government anyway). And it is certainly easier for large donors to influence these organization rather than the Government (which in theory is one person one vote).
Getting rid of these deductions would solve a lot of problems.
PS: Long-time Church member who has itemized deductions in the past.