re: #444 sattv4u2

So it directly benefits that person

Please try to read and understand. Assume person A makes $100K a year and pays $25K in tax (we’ll assume a flat tax rate of 25% but the same argument works with a more complex marginal system).

If person A does not make a donation, his net income is $75K.

If person A donates $20K, his pre-tax income is now $80K. He then pays 25% in tax, which equates to $20K. After tax, his net income is $60K, $15K less than it was without the donation. So he has avoided $5K in tax but is still worse off than before.

Beyond this simple example, do you really believe, as you said above, that there is nothing that people do that doesn’t directly benefit themselves?