President Obama's plan to expand health care coverage by raising taxes on the wealthy is drawing accusations that he wants to do it at the expense of charitable giving.
"I don't understand why the administration would try to create any disincentive that reduced any donations to charity," Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said.
Yet critics say that is exactly what the president's proposed budget will do by limiting the charitable giving tax break for families earning more than $250,000 dollars per year.
The $634 billion down payment on expanding health care coverage would come from a $318 billion increase over 10 years in taxes on the wealthy, defined as couples making more than $250,000 per year and individuals making more than $200,000.
The tax increase would occur in 2011 by reducing the benefit the wealthy get on tax deductions. For example, taxpayers in the current top tax bracket of 35 percent could see their tax deduction for every $1 given to charity drop from 35 cents to 28 cents.
The most recent IRS statistics from 2006 show that families earning more than $250,000, which represents less than 2 percent of all taxpayers, was responsible for about 28 percent of all giving, amounting to more than $81 billion dollars in charitable gifts. - FOX News
Charities have been seeing a downturn in donations over the last few years and with this on the horizon they will see that trend continue. Obama and his team will fill you full of all kinds of excuses, but facts are facts. The reason for the tax breaks was to encourage giving, these charities can not survive without it.
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