Cheap Charity

By raising marginal tax rates for the upper 1% of the population from 35% to 39.6%, passage of the fiscal cliff avoidance bill will encourage increased charitable giving by the rich because it’s cheaper! To be precise, it’s 7.8% cheaper even after the phase-out of Schedule A deductions is considered. This unintended consequence will result in an annual multi-billion dollar windfall for philanthropic organizations and fewer taxes to the IRS.