Donations to charity dropped last year despite a strong economy. Was the tax law to blame?

[DonViejo]

By Todd C. Frankel June 18 at 10:00 AM

Donations to charity dropped an inflation-adjusted 1.7 percent in the United States last year, despite a strong economy, according to a new report, highlighting changes to federal tax law and continuing trends in who makes charitable gifts.

The estimated $427.71 billion donated to U.S. charities in 2018 represented a growing share of gifts from foundations and corporations, according to a Giving USA report released Tuesday, which is considered the most comprehensive annual study of philanthropy.

The overall decrease is the first drop in charitable giving in the country since the Great Recession, the organization said.

Corporate donations increased 2.9 percent last year. Foundation gifts jumped 4.7 percent. But giving from individuals — the traditional bread-and-butter of American charities — dropped 3.4 percent last year.

“This was quite a widespread change,” said Una Osili, an economics professor and an associate dean at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, which helps produce the Giving USA report.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/donations-to-charity-dropped-last-year-despite-a-strong-economy-was-the-tax-law-to-blame/2019/06/18/a2fb4ea8-9120-11e9-b58a-a6a9afaa0e3e_story.html

[democratisphere]

1. For most working people the cost of existing continues to rise essentially

negating drumpf's tax cut to the top earners. Many people like OTR truck drivers actually saw their taxes rise substantially. Like everything drumpf, nothing is real including tax cuts. Fewer have any disposable income to allocate to charity.

[genxlib]

2. Of course it was

I was emailing with my tax preparer and predicted that it would. She agreed completely.

And it will be exponentially worse next year now that people have had a year's worth of tax returns to see the effects.