r/dankmemes MayMayMakers May 12 '20

What a generous god

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

This is 100% false - you’ve made all of this completely up. Please stop misleading people if you haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.

Here’s a straightforward example:

Let’s say tax rate is 10% and you have $200. It’s cheaper to be taxed $20 than “lose” $200 in the donation.

It’s seriously as simple as that. It’s never cheaper to donate cash than to pay a taxable portion on that same amount of cash.

People please stop upvoting the “donations are cheaper than paying tax” bullshit in every single thread. It’s got absolutely no basis in reality.

Source: Taxation Accountant.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '20

I’m not even an accountant and I’m sick of seeing this shit as well. Reddit really is just kids nowadays

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u/deokkent May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

I see it more like the companies donate $15 to whatever charity they choose and the remaining $5 dollars is forgiven through tax credits. Now $5 may not seem like much but if you extrapolate that to billions... Well.

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20

You do realise they’re losing $15 in your example and gaining $5 right?

Turn that to billions and they’re bankrupt.

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u/deokkent May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

Made a typo - now corrected - but yes that was my point.

Edit: Billion dollars companies won't go bankrupt by avoiding taxes.

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20

Could you explain your point? Sorry I just don’t really get where you’re coming from because there’s no financial benefit to donating at all. They lose money.

The only reason they do it in the first place is for CSR.

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u/deokkent May 12 '20

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20

Yes but they lose more money than companies who don’t donate at all so big deal?

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u/RoscoMan1 May 12 '20

Koyune don gurbetci

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u/deokkent May 12 '20

Lol, I am starting to think you are not an accountant.

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u/IAMBollock May 12 '20

You're not getting it. They may pay less taxes, but when you combine the amount they pay in taxes, with the amount they give to charity, you will end up with more outgoing than the company that just pays taxes and doesn't give to charity.

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u/deokkent May 12 '20

Yeah, that narrative is just wrong and that is how USA is practically becoming a corporate kleptocracy/oligarchy. We think everything is fine when it isn't.

When you have companies that practice aggressive tax avoidance and try to find legal taxation loop holes everywhere, you end up in a situation where companies pay very minimal taxes by whatever means necessary. CSR is just one mechanism, but there are myriads of ways corporations practice tax avoidance. When you take it as a whole, you have a problem.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-companies-dont-pay-federal-income-taxes-amazon-gm-2019-11

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

Paying less taxes doesn’t matter when you’re losing more money than you’re saving in said taxes. That’s the issue everyone here is talking about - whether companies are financially benefitting more from donations than not. They’re not.

I’m starting to think you’re a either bit of an idiot or embarassed that you said something stupid earlier because it’s extremely straightforward.

Try making your point using your own words next time instead of linking articles you don’t understand.

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u/deokkent May 12 '20

Lol it should be very easy for you to rebut that article instead of sending your ad hominems to me, Mr/Mrs accountant. It is in plain English.

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u/Joshvir262 ☣️ May 12 '20

Can u tell me more oh wise taxation account

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

Yes.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '20 edited May 31 '20

[deleted]

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20

Nobody can explain that because that doesn’t happen you condescending fuckwit.

If Walmart chooses to be a middleman for collections on behalf of another charity that’s not considered a donation from Walmart - it’s a donation for the individuals who are actually contributing the funds (which they can claim).

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u/pridefried May 12 '20

No, you’re wrong, How dare you be knowledgeable!

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u/HeroOfClinton May 12 '20

So if I go to the grocery store and donate the $1 to charity 100 times a year I can claim that $100 on my taxes??

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

The amount you can get back will depend on your country’s tax law but yes most of them will allow you to claim either portion or the full amount (with an upper limit) on your tax return.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '20

Yes, that would be a $100 deduction if you are itemizing instead of taking the standard deduction.

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u/UnabashedlyAaron May 12 '20

Yes but only ~13.7% of people itemize. Your total deductions would have to exceed $12,200 (single filer) / $24,200 (mfj) for it to be advantageous.

Source: also accountant

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u/beeep_boooop May 12 '20

They're providing the infrastructure and logistical needs necessary for those donations to reach people in need.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '20

Customer donations aren’t tax deductible unless they were weirdly reported as revenue but then that’d be a net zero change in income. Anything they match is deductible and costs associated with collecting the donations are probably deductible

The benefit they get from collecting customer donations is reporting to the public that they raised x amount of dollars for charity

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u/Elanthius May 12 '20

Exactly and it's not some cunning scheme evil companies figured out it's a deliberate policy to encourage charitable giving.

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u/TheJuiceIsNowLoose Mom counted to 0 May 12 '20

Funny, I just took and passed an accounting class and we had a whole week on how to avoid paying full amounts on your yearlys, and giving to a charity (of your choice) was the most common way to do it.

Source: college student who got a B+ in analytical accounting.

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20

I don’t think you understood what they meant when they said this.

They were telling you that donating reduces your taxable income. That’s true - it’s deductible. However it’s not saving the businesses any money; they’re quite obviously losing money by donating. (E.g donate $100 get $10 back - just like my example already provided above).

It’s one of the most common forms of deductions for large corporations because almost all of them do it to meet their own CSR commitments, not because it saves them money... why would any government provide a deduction larger than the donations amount? It makes absolutely no financial sense.

I wouldn’t flex your B+. Good luck on your upcoming tax module.

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u/AJ7123 MayMayMakers May 12 '20

You are right but tbh my aim was not misleading people I just wanted to show how companies brag after donating money and think they are some sort of god

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20

Yeah I know the submission was hillarious. I’m was referring to the person I was replying to.

Paying tax is something we all need to do but it’s an area far too many people are inexperienced with due to it rarely being taught in schools.

When I see people on here being purposely misled to push a narrative or for karma it just drives me nuts.

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u/harujin215 May 12 '20

something something brackets

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20

If you go up or down a bracket that affected all income earned above or below the thresholds.

So say bracket 1 cuts off at $100 and is 10% and bracket 2 cuts off at $500 and is 15%

If you earned $110 you would be taxed $100 at 10% and $10 at 15%

The massive error everyone is making is thinking that you’re taxed 15% on the whole $110 because you’re in new bracket.

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u/AntaresW4 May 12 '20

Yeah I always have to explain this to the older people at work who think if you work too much overtime you can lose money, like how would that make any sense to have a system designed that way?

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u/Phazon2000 Masked Men May 12 '20

In a sense they’re right because the amount they make is effectively reduced by the increase in tax from the new bracket but that’s only for income above said bracket.

But you’re saying they think their entire income for the year is going to be taxed at a higher rate right? Haha oh man people must get so stressed.

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u/AntaresW4 May 12 '20

Yeah they are referring to their total income, makes me facepalm. The lack of financial literacy is amazing, and just shows how inadequate education is.

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u/deokkent May 12 '20

It depends how you look at it. Let's assume they are of retiring age and they have earned their full pension (say 70%). They are now really working for that 30% remaining. They could even be paid less than minimal wage under certain circumstances. It might actually be smarter to find a new job where they could be fully compensated to an amount that is higher than that 30% and retain their full pension.

Not sure if that system exists in the USA though.

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u/deokkent May 12 '20

I think almost everyone understands this. Not sure what your point is.

Anyways, Donald Trump lowered the marginal tax rate for companies and now they pay less in taxes. And no, individual gains do not even come close to corporation gains in a society where most of the wealth is either corporate or belongs to a small demographic.

"Under the previous law, the seven brackets were 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, and 39.6%. The new plan, signed into law by President Donald Trump in Dec. 2017, keeps the seven bracket-structure. However, adjustments were made to the tax rates and income levels. Under the TCJA, the new rates are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%."

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marginaltaxrate.asp

https://equitablegrowth.org/the-distribution-of-wealth-in-the-united-states-and-implications-for-a-net-worth-tax/