In NYTimes.com’s “Big Gifts, Tax Breaks and a Debate on Charity,” Stephanie Strom writes about philanthrophic ins and outs in this era of Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy.
Check out the NYTimes.com info-graphic. Attractive (Tufte readers: Yum!) and informative about the sad state, relatively, of large individual donations to the arts.
The super-wealthy have super-accountants, who take advantage of the numerous and legal means to make giving profitable. As explained by a professor, museum donors can actually make money by purchasing of significant art works and donating them incrementally over several years. Since the work appreciates as part of an esteemed museum collection, the tax write-offs increase year-to-year, eventually exceeding initial outlay.
While I am for incentives for charitable giving (for example, artists should be able to write off the sale price of works donated to non-profit orgs, not just the cost of materials used), Strom’s article correctly points out that it’s high time to re-evaluate the tax codes for charitable giving among the super rich.
