Tax deductions and avoidance

I've never understood how the whole "donating to charities for a tax deduction" works.

Sure, those donations are tax-deductable. But so what? Just keeping the money and paying taxes on it leaves you infinitely further ahead than giving it away and having zero of it left.

Maybe I'm missing something fundamental. But the whole "donate" thing seems like blatant BS.

yeah but if you and friend both have charities it's legal to donate to each other and claim deductions. The charity can spend it on what ever they want.

you cant be totally retarded about it but its a grey area. Especially if your charities do have some overlapping intrest

Max out your 401k contributions, start a company then declare bankruptcy? Is this legal?

>>1082679
>The charity can spend it on what ever they want.

If you get popped with a fraudulent charity investigation you'll wish you were dead.

>>1082638
>Anyone use offshore accounts?
The time to do this was years ago.
>What about donating to oversea charities?
Not deductible.

OP, I doubt you even have a $50,000 AGI.

https://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Charitable-Organizations/Charitable-Contribution-Deductions

doesnt say a church cant be overseas especially if they are have offices in the states. I"m a certified preacher btw. A chruch can also own businesses

>>1082669
Not all of us are miserable selfish cunts. Some of us are willing to use our wealth to benefit others.

And, as a side benefit, we get tax deductions. Win-win.

>>1082683
You can only contribute earned income to a tax-advantaged account. So how does starting a fake company generate earned income?

>>1082693
Never said I don't donate. Just saying that if your goal is minimizing taxes, specifically looking into donations as a tax strategy seems ridiculous.

>>1082691
>A chruch can also own businesses

Ever hear of UBIT?

>>1082691
>doesnt say a church cant be overseas especially if they are have offices in the states.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/ch05.html

If you make contributions directly to a foreign church or other foreign charitable organization, you generally cannot deduct them. Exceptions are explained under Canadian, Mexican, and Israeli charities, later.

What about maxing out 401k then using it to form a business? Business buys stuff Iike "proprietary intellectually property" from an overseas shell company. Then you declare bankruptcy. Rinse and repeat every year. Is that legal?

>>1082695
>Never said I don't donate. Just saying that if your goal is minimizing taxes, specifically looking into donations as a tax strategy seems ridiculous.
The implicit assumption in your post is that you wouldn't donate to charity unless there was a tax benefit. That's why I called you a selfish cunt. Some of us don't need the tax incentive to do good things.

But, since the government nicely rewards us for out altruism, there's nothing wrong with doing it in a way that maximizes those benefits.

>>1082699
Jesus man, read.
>>1082694
A fake business with no income can't pay wages. No wages, no 401k. And if you fudge the wages, then you're just creating fake income on which you'll owe taxes at *both* the corporate and personal level. That like increasing your tax burden by $1000 to save $200. It's just stupid.

>>1082698

Nah I mean the church is created in the usa by a friend. He can spend that money however he wants, like buying stuff from a shell company overseas, or starting missions in other countries etc

>>1082699
Huge risk of getting hit with UBIT if you're running an active business that's held by your 401k.

I don't even know how the hell your second idea is supposed to work.

>>1082705
>Nah I mean the church is created in the usa by a friend. He can spend that money however he wants, like buying stuff from a shell company overseas, or starting missions in other countries etc

Nonprofits can't just go wild and do whatever the hell they want. If he owns the "shell company" overseas he needs to comply with subpart f (rules for foreign corporations controlled or owned by US citizens) which can be an absolute goddamn nightmare.

>>1082706
Friend starts church of the singularity. They worship by trying to build an all powerfull AI that will help us understand god. (Church of Scientology 2.0) Shell company overseas provides an algorithm for a yearly subscription. I donate 50% of my income tax to my friends church. He uses that money to buy the stuff the shell company overseas that offers proprietary algorithms the church uses to build the singularity. Is that legal?

>>1082715
I can only Judge Holmes writes the tax court opinion when this mess comes crashing down.

>>1082718
But if the shell company is not in my name or my preacher friends name how it illegal? I may have another role at the shell company though maybe not.

>>1082719
You're right. It's totally legal. Go call up Deloitte and tell them you've got a great tax strategy to sell to their PCS clients.

How is it different then this? Instead of a company though its a church. Also, how come i cant take my employer matched 401k and start a business. The business donates all the money to the church. Business declares bankruptcy. Do that every year? I mean I know it would draw a lot of attention but what can the irs actually do about it? https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance/taxes-topic/corporate-taxation/v/transfer-pricing-and-tax-havens

>>1082715
>Is that legal?
No, of course not.

But anyway, you funnel all your money through a fake charity to get a tax deduction, and then into an offshore company. Then what? How do you propose to get the money back to your own country without paying tax?

>>1082719
>the shell company is not in my name
Actually forget tax, how do you propose to get the money back at all? Whoever owns this company is obviously going to take it and run.

>>1082735
Why is it illegal? I've been searching the IRS website and as long as they meet the requirements of a church why cant I give them 50% of my income? They can spend it how they want. I'm not worried about getting the money out. My question is on the legality of me donating 50% of income to my friends church and i've described the actions that they use it for. Also do a link that can show me why I cant start a new business every year with my 401k as described here and why I cant declare bankruptcy? http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/funding/how-to-tap-an-ira-or-401k-to-help-fund-a-start-up/

>>1082735
Thanks for the help by the way. I'm not good with US tax code.

>>1082638
just make your entire business into a tax shelter like warren buffet. Then tell people that it's okay for taxes to go up and vote for the party in favor of quantitave easing for maximum lels

>>1082638
NSA please go

>>1082744
because the same reason the Rastafarians can not smoke pot legally. It is not a recognized religion under IRS tax code. Its not a 501C3... cant remember off the top of my head. There is a tax code identifier. If a church/religion does not have that, it is not recognized as a valid deduction

>>1082638

I pay all of my taxes on time and in the most government oriented interpretation of the written procedures and laws.

I trust my government to only take what I owe and to return anything I do not owe later or to hold any money owed back in my favor for the next tax year.

Mexican here. My uncles and aunts have SSN but they've been living in Mexico for the past 20 years. Been claiming them as dependent now that my parents don't

>>1082669
>Just keeping the money and paying taxes on it leaves you infinitely further ahead than giving it away and having zero of it left.

But that's wrong. You donate a little, your stated income goes down, and you end up in a lesser taxed bracket and keeping more of your money overall.
>implying megacorps would ever donate if it wasn't profitable

>>1082669
>donate good money to X charity (if you're well off)
>get invited to dinners, events, and get to send your kids to intern there/make connections
>get tax deductible status on your purchase of social capital

or

>be ultra wealthy fuck
>create a charity org with very vague goals like "human advancement"
>donate a bunch of money, deduct part of it from the tax bill, continue enjoying the dividends from the money via whatever perks you get from being director/board member of the charity
>get positive media buzz, and free internet army from assorted cucks and bootlickers

It's win-win all over the place

>>1084169

They also make money from the perception of being charitable, too.

It's profitable to be charitable if you can convince people that that matters by appealing to their feelings.

>>1084169
and you end up in a lesser taxed bracket

Marginal tax bracket. Doesn't matter as much.