re: #147 ralphieboy

as a Mormon, Mitt would be required to donate 10% of his income to the church. Does that count as a “charitable donation”?

I believe it does. There is surprisingly little info written about how the Mormon Church spends that money. But, some analysis suggests that it has spent less than 10% of that money on what one might consider “charitable causes”. That however is not unique to the Mormon church. People of all religions write off contributions to religious institutions in their charitable giving. These institutions are a mixed bag in terms of where that money goes.