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My favorite one is when our utility company asks me to donate to help pay for people's utilities like they aren't raking in record amount of cash.
First, please don't link to Reddit...
Many Of The Largest Charities In America Are Giant Money Making Scams
http://thetruthwins.com/archives/many-of-the-largest-charities-in-america-are-giant-money-making-scams
Those charities have huge overhead. Very little money goes to the actual cause.
There are sites to check how much actually goes out. Check before you donate.
Remember kids, they also get to use the money they guilted off of you to reduce their tax liability because they get credit for donating your money!
They do not, at least in the US.
It depends on exactly what the store is doing.
If the store is representing the extra charge as a donation to a specific charity, generally, the customer can deduct that.
If it's far more vague, like, "Give $10 to help poor kids in Africa" the ultimate destination for the funds could be the company's own ledgers, which it would then use for its own charitable activities and collect the tax deduction, as long as they "help poor kids in Africa."
And some stores are just lying. CVS, for instance, was sued as part of a class action suit when, after the company pledges $10 million to the American Diabetes Association, then collected money from customers to fund that pledge.
Yep, found the case you referred to...
FACTS
- From November 2, 2021, through November 27, 2021, CVS conducted a campaign (the “Campaign”) in which, prior to the completion of transactions at its nearly ten thousand stores in the 50 States and the District of Columbia, customers were asked on the checkout screen if they wished, as part of the checkout process, to make a donation, above and beyond the price of their purchase, to the American Diabetes Association (“ADA”).
- The only term of the Campaign that CVS provided to customers was a representation on the checkout screen that the customer could make a donation to the ADA (a “Campaign Donation”) by tapping one of several boxes on the checkout screen, each of which contained a preselected amount, or that the customer could tap a box stating “no” with respect to making a Campaign Donation (the “Checkout Message”).
- The Checkout Message represented that CVS was merely collecting Campaign Donations and forwarding them to the ADA.
- The Checkout Message was a material element of the Campaign.
- CVS intended that customers would rely upon the Checkout Message in deciding whether to make a Campaign Donation.
- Customers had no reason to believe that the Checkout Message was anything but true and accurate.
- CVS did not merely collect customers’ Campaign Donations and forward them to the ADA, but, instead, counted Campaign Donations toward the satisfaction of a legally binding obligation, which CVS had made to the ADA, to donate $10 million to the ADA during the threeyear period of 2021 through 2023 (the “CVS Obligation”).
- CVS necessarily used Campaign Donations to reimburse itself, or pay down its debt, with respect to the CVS Obligation. 2 Case 1:22-cv-03116-RPK-RML Document 1 Filed 05/26/22 Page 2 of 26 PageID #: 2
- CVS’s treatment of, and benefit from, Campaign Donations were materially different than the false, deceptive, and misleading representation that CVS had given to its customers, which was that CVS was merely collecting Campaign Donations and forwarding them to the ADA.
- On or about November 15, 2021, McCabe made a Campaign Donation at the CVS store located at 1933 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314.
Shell's audacity too...
And redirecting you attention on to the "offsets" scam too.
Ever wonder why climate change is such a problem if 1.5 pence per liter petroleum burnt can undo the damage? Spoiler: it can't. You can't sequester CO² for that cheap, and CO² isn't the only issue. "Offsets" are not certified by any trustworthy third party, and companies intentionally don't pry too much, so they can say "Oh sorry, didn't know" if anyone investigates and discovers they did squat-all.
Just FYI this is a sort of scam. ~~The company donates the money on your behalf and they get the tax write-off for your donation while also appearing philanthropic for PR purposes~~. that's why they do it.
EDIT: US companies cannot do this in the US you can claim up to $300 on taxes. This is legit in the US.
@zombuey I've heard that a lot, but it is apparently not true unless the company claims your donation as a profit and then writes it off, which negates any tax benefit. I think it's more just a PR thing to make you feel good about that company while using your own money.
They cannot claim it as profit if they are following the law.
I think it’s more just a PR thing to make you feel good about that company while using your own money.
Yep, even without any direct financial benefit there is certainly a reason to engage in such behavior. The store gets you to associate it with the charity campaign and they'll make hay over the amount of donations they helped collect and their partnership with the charity. Drives for employee donations can also be used in a similar manner.
They cannot, and do not, claim your donations on their taxes.
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I hate when they pull this shit at drive through fast food. “Would you like to round up to donate to our charity?”
Who knows what the person taking my order thinks about this charity, and what they might do to someone’s food who says no.
Edit: The fact that merely implying a fast food worker wouldn’t be a complete perfect human being gets so many downvotes says a whole lot about this community.
I can assure you that nobody working at the fast food restaurant gives a shit if you donate to charity.
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Or just...donate the perfectly good food they constantly throw out into the cadged dumpsters designed to keep homeless people out... Litteraly would cost them nothing...
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Then they will say it is more efficient to merge the donations with regular revenue and make bulk donations every quarter or something.
PSA: most Americans can get up to $300 deducted from their annual taxes through donations.
To be fair, I bet these companies strike deals with the charitable organizations to in turn raise visibility of those charities among the company's customers.
People that give money for those charities are giving those companies free tax write offs.
You donate $10 or whatever. The company can then claim that $10 as a write off via donation to that charity. Campaign as a whole (either regional or national) collects $1M USD. Corporate accountants write off donation. Tax liability reduced.
That's not how tax write offs work. The only way to claim that money in a write-off would be for the business to also claim it as revenue. That would even out, with no tax savings. Businesses also don't handle donations that way, they usually serve as a collection agent that just passes your donations on without being able to claim it towards their revenue or their tax write offs. The only person who can write-off their donation is the person who actually made it.
The reason businesses do it is for marketing. They get to put out a press release saying "They helped donate $10 million to puppies without borders."
That’s not how tax write offs work
Jerry: So we're gonna make the Post Office pay for my new stereo now?
Kramer: It's a write-off for them.
Jerry: How is it a write-off?
Kramer: They just write it off.
Jerry: Write it off what?
Kramer: Jerry, all these big companies, they write off everything.
Jerry: You don't even know what a write-off is.
Kramer: Do you?
Jerry: No, I don't.
Kramer: But they do. And they're the ones writing it off.
Puppies do not recognize your silly imaginary borders and will commit zoomies across any such lines.
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Just wait until you get a tip prompt on a self checkout kiosk...
Those donations you make can help them deduct from taxes, right?
Thats really jewish anyway to call a deducatable a donation.
fucking antisemite
Yes, which is why you should donate yourself if you are inclined to do so.
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Please don't link to Reddit.
Sorry but this sub has a policy of crediting people rather than passing content off as their own. You can always just not click the link. Lifting content without crediting the op I got it from would be unethical
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And I will never ever give these fools my actual phone number for discounts. Just use any area code w/ 867-5309 to get around this.
How bout the fact if they achieved their goals, they wouldn't have a problem to have a charity for and thats a bigger concern to them. They'd rather not help people than not exist. They may as well just pretend they are the poor people their campaigning for. Or be technically homeless and donate to themselves while living in charity(company) owned residence
Nah the charities are usually legit. But the companies aren't doing it out of the goodness of their heart, it's a massive tax write off as well as free PR.
It's so they can get a tax write off for your donation.
This is a lie that I had hoped to leave behind on Reddit but lo and behold it's so pervasive that it transcends social circles.
Repeat after me: that is not how taxes work.
They do not get any monetary benefit from your donations, save for arguably good publicity. They do not claim your donations in their taxes. They do not get extra write offs on their taxes.
Those donations are yours and you could claim them on your taxes, if you were so inclined.
This. The icing on the cake is that this tax write-off affects the amount of tax dollars available for public assistance in the first place. If you want to help the poor, consider volunteering your time or donating to a legitimate charity.
I hate when any company I'm buying something from does this.
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this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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Mildly Infuriating
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