Bill Gates and Warren Buffet took the world of extreme wealth by the storm with their initiative to get other super wealthy magnates to pledge their fortune to charity. However, this initiative has also lead to a major loss for Uncle Sam as those funds will never be subject to estate taxes due to the deductible nature of the giving. While this is not a problem with many estates, some have gotten the deduction based on donations to highly suspect family foundations whose charitable aim is not always to improve the lot of the unfortunate such as the poor or sick. In the article below, the author argues for a voluntary cut of the donated estates to go to the treasury to compensate for lost estate tax revenue. Agree or disagree with the author’s assertion, it is worth a read for an interesting take on the new charitable trend among the Midas touched.
See Edward Zelinsky, The continuing benefits (and costs) of the Giving Pledge, OUP Blog, July 6, 2015
