# Is writing off a charitable contribution morally superior to making no contribution at all? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 31, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-writing-off-a-charitable-contribution-morally-superior-to-making-no-contribution-at-all/623636 "2012-05-31T08:05:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-writing-off-a-charitable-contribution-morally-superior-to-making-no-contribution-at-all/623636/21 "2012-06-01T05:34:08Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s their money. Are you un-generous unless you give away all your money to charity or taxes and fund everything? I’m sorry im evil and calling everyone bad ididnt mean to im sorry ill go away now im really sorry marley ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-writing-off-a-charitable-contribution-morally-superior-to-making-no-contribution-at-all/623636/22 "2012-06-01T07:00:53Z")
I’ve always thought generosity was a description of _disproportionate_ charity. If I posit that charity is giving without expecting return. (Or explicitly expecting no return which is almost, but not quite, the same thing.) If the law had been as the OP posited, then you would be giving on the condition that you were repaid in full, even if by another agency and thus that would not have been charitable. But, as the government and civilization at large approved the laws that enable that transaction, neither would it have been unethical. Whether or not it’s immoral is relative to so many factors that it’s impossible to determine objectively - a Christian has a different relationship to the responsibility of sharing his wealth than, say, a Sikh or a penitent Buddhist monk. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-writing-off-a-charitable-contribution-morally-superior-to-making-no-contribution-at-all/623636/23 "2012-06-01T13:43:57Z")
This question is functionally equivalent to asking, “is it moral to pay only the taxes you legally owe, without putting in a little extra?” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-writing-off-a-charitable-contribution-morally-superior-to-making-no-contribution-at-all/623636/24 "2012-06-02T13:57:32Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I didn’t expect you to make such a concession, and yes i do see you used the word might. > > I don’t believe it’s the knowing where it came from (as in the widow’s example in scriptures the people it went to help didn’t know her), but the way I view it is the flow of love that can be felt and makes the difference. And to me love is God, so it is God living in the person giving that makes it’s way to the receiver and touches their heart (of that person is open to love). > > But I will give you in a charity situation there is a mix of intentionsand intensity of intentions and the receiver gets a mix, so it will most likely not be as ‘pure’ of a experience that can happen when it is one on one giving/receiving. Stop messing up a decent concept with the quasi-spiritual mumbo jumbo you know that absolutely no one else on the board agrees with. But, Marley, he is right that one is not generous if one’s motives are to save money. The word only has meaning if you give without a desire to get back. Otherwise, it’s functionally no different than just paying for something. I’m not being generous when I pay my phone bill–I’m paying for a service. Someone who gave only because it saved them money would be paying for the ability to save money. The fact that the food would taste the same is irrelevant. The food would taste the same if it were raised by selling off children. You wouldn’t call those buyers generous, would you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-writing-off-a-charitable-contribution-morally-superior-to-making-no-contribution-at-all/623636.md?page=1)