To the Editor:Re “Make a Difference This Tax Season,” by Matthew Desmond (Opinion guest essay, April 14):Mr. Desmond is, of course, right that tax rates and tax deductions are heavily skewed to favor the very wealthy.
One of the solutions he offers, however, asks the somewhat wealthy to imitate the very wealthy: Take your deduction and give to your favorite charities.
That’s how the taxpayers end up subsidizing — through deductible philanthropy — huge bequests to operas, billionaires’ alma maters, vanity art collections and other pet projects.
If people just didn’t take the deductions, as Mr. Desmond also proposes, the savings could help fund main government responsibilities like schools, safety, health care and the like.
The writer is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Persons:
Matthew Desmond, Desmond, alma, Claude S, Fischer Berkeley
Organizations:
University of California
Locations:
Calif, Berkeley