Should those who make more money be given a larger tax deduction on their charitable gifts? Binyamin Applebaum for the New York Times thinks not and shares his reasoning and ways to improve the philanthropic system in the United States in his article, The Really Unfair Thing About the Met Gala. Applebaum points to the subsidies that are assigned to financial gifts by the US government based on the organization and the giver. Those in higher tax brackets receive a much larger tax break and tend to focus their giving on cultural sites and universities.
But why should federal tax policy privilege the preservation of old dresses or the construction of new dormitories at Harvard over the needs of parent-teacher associations or community groups that depend on the support of residents in less affluent neighborhoods?
Applebaum goes on to suggest ways that the US system could be balanced through a matching gift system or by emulating Britain’s Gift Aid Program or Canada’s tax credit for donors.
