Suppose you're taxed at 40% (the maximum income tax rate in the US) and you give $1 to charity. Assuming your itemized deductions are high enough, this will reduce your income by $1, which reduces your tax bill by $0.40. So, you give away a dollar and get 40 cents back. That is not a money-making proposition.
Besides, the US taxes on income, not assets except for some things like real estate. If most of your wealth is in securities, like Bill, then you don't pay any tax at all on the principal, just on any income your investments generate. Those taxes will reduce, but not eliminate, that income and won't touch the principal at all.
So, if you have a ton of money and want to continue to maximize your wealth, giving to charity doesn't help at all. It reduces the taxes you pay, but not by as much as you're giving away.
Only stupid people with no money and not so much as the most basic understanding of the tax system think rich people make money by giving to charity.
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That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
Suppose you're taxed at 40% (the maximum income tax rate in the US) and you give $1 to charity. Assuming your itemized deductions are high enough, this will reduce your income by $1, which reduces your tax bill by $0.40. So, you give away a dollar and get 40 cents back. That is not a money-making proposition.
Besides, the US taxes on income, not assets except for some things like real estate. If most of your wealth is in securities, like Bill, then you don't pay any tax at all on the principal, just on any income your investments generate. Those taxes will reduce, but not eliminate, that income and won't touch the principal at all.
So, if you have a ton of money and want to continue to maximize your wealth, giving to charity doesn't help at all. It reduces the taxes you pay, but not by as much as you're giving away.
Only stupid people with no money and not so much as the most basic understanding of the tax system think rich people make money by giving to charity.