this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024
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Science Memes

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Malaria (fedia.io)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLkbWUNQbgk&t=308s

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[–] Serinus 25 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Pay himself with the charities money, as he is an employee of the charity

Why does Bill Gates earn nothing through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?

Lobby politicians using the charity’s money

A 501(c)(3) organization is subject to heightened restrictions on lobbying activities, A 501(c)(3) organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status. Lobbying may not constitute a “substantial part” of the activities of the 501(c)(3) organization. ^[source]

Otherwise direct the charity to work in his best interests

I guess you can argue that eliminating malaria is in his best interests, but it's pretty reaching. I guess nobody should do anything good if it might indirectly benefit themselves.

[–] HauntedCupcake -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Fair, in this example Bill Gates isn't exactly the best one to pick. And the clarification on the lobbying rules is definitely a valuable bit of information, so thank you for adding that.

I was more trying to point out that the original comment wasn't saying that the tax break "made money". It's all about shuffling it around to avoid taxes.

At the end of the day, it allows Bill Gates (or other billionaires) to spend otherwise taxable income on whatever they deem important. Whether or not you agree with how they're spending their money is irrelevant

[–] Serinus 8 points 8 months ago

to spend otherwise taxable income on whatever they deem important

Yes, that's absolutely true, but the language hides the truth a bit. People don't get the nuance of what "taxable income" is.

If Bill donates a thousand dollars to charity, he saves ~$370 in taxes. That means he's still losing $630 on the deal. The government gets to effectively triple their money by allowing you to decide where it goes.

There may also be a limit of 60% of your AGI? I'm not sure how this works with billionaires.