IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v42y2024i1p94-109.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do tax credits benefit charities? Evidence from two states

Author

Listed:
  • Anubhav Gupta
  • Thomas Luke Spreen

Abstract

This paper considers the effect of state charitable giving tax credits on the contribution revenues of eligible charities. Using event studies paired with Form 990 data, we detect no significant change in contributions to qualified nonprofits after the elimination of a $100 per taxpayer credit by Michigan. By contrast, we find a significant increase in contributions to qualified charities following the introduction of a $10,000 per taxpayer credit by North Dakota that persists for several years. The results suggest that placing a large cap on charitable giving tax credits induces stronger donor responses.

Suggested Citation

  • Anubhav Gupta & Thomas Luke Spreen, 2024. "Do tax credits benefit charities? Evidence from two states," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(1), pages 94-109, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:42:y:2024:i:1:p:94-109
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12622
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12622
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/coep.12622?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Auten, Gerald E. & Cilke, James M. & Randolph, William C., 1992. "The Effects of Tax Reform on Charitable Contributions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 45(3), pages 267-290, September.
    2. Damian Clarke & Kathya Tapia-Schythe, 2021. "Implementing the panel event study," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 21(4), pages 853-884, December.
    3. Heller, Ruth & Rosenbaum, Paul R. & Small, Dylan S., 2009. "Split Samples and Design Sensitivity in Observational Studies," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 104(487), pages 1090-1101.
    4. Auten, Gerald E. & Cilke, James M. & Randolph, William C., 1992. "The Effects of Tax Reform on Charitable Contributions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 45(3), pages 267-90, September.
    5. Randolph, William C, 1995. "Dynamic Income, Progressive Taxes, and the Timing of Charitable Contributions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(4), pages 709-738, August.
    6. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2011. "Synth: An R Package for Synthetic Control Methods in Comparative Case Studies," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 42(i13).
    7. Daniel Feenberg & Elisabeth Coutts, 1993. "An introduction to the TAXSIM model," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 189-194.
    8. Bakija, Jon & Heim, Bradley T., 2011. "How Does Charitable Giving Respond to Incentives and Income? New Estimates From Panel Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(2), pages 615-650, June.
    9. Damian Clarke & Kathya Tapia-Schythe, 2021. "Implementing the panel event study," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 21(4), pages 853-884, December.
    10. Gerald E. Auten & Holger Sieg & Charles T. Clotfelter, 2002. "Charitable Giving, Income, and Taxes: An Analysis of Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 371-382, March.
    11. Daniel Teles, 2016. "Do Tax Credits Increase Charitable Giving? Evidence from Arizona and Iowa," Working Papers 1606, Tulane University, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2016.
    12. Clotfelter, Charles T., 1985. "Federal Tax Policy and Charitable Giving," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226110486, September.
    13. Simon Heß, 2017. "Randomization inference with Stata: A guide and software," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 17(3), pages 630-651, September.
    14. Cermak, Dianne S. P. & File, Karen Maru & Prince, Russ Alan, 1994. "A benefit segmentation of the major donor market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 121-130, February.
    15. Peter G. Backus & Nicky L. Grant, 2019. "How sensitive is the average taxpayer to changes in the tax-price of giving?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(2), pages 317-356, April.
    16. Arthur C. Brooks, 2007. "Income tax policy and charitable giving," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 599-612.
    17. Thomas Luke Spreen, 2018. "The Effect of Flat Tax Rates on Taxable Income: Evidence from the Illinois Rate Increase," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 71(2), pages 231-262, June.
    18. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1985. "Federal Tax Policy and Charitable Giving," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number clot85-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huck, Steffen & Rasul, Imran, 2011. "Matched fundraising: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5-6), pages 351-362, June.
    2. Peter G. Backus & Nicky L. Grant, 2019. "How sensitive is the average taxpayer to changes in the tax-price of giving?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(2), pages 317-356, April.
    3. Jonathan Meer & Benjamin A. Priday, 2020. "Tax Prices and Charitable Giving: Projected Changes in Donations under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 113-138.
    4. Bakija, Jon & Heim, Bradley T., 2011. "How Does Charitable Giving Respond to Incentives and Income? New Estimates From Panel Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(2), pages 615-650, June.
    5. Jon Bakija & Bradley Heim, 2008. "How Does Charitable Giving Respond to Incentives and Income? Dynamic Panel Estimates Accounting for Predictable Changes in Taxation," NBER Working Papers 14237, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Duquette, Nicolas J., 2016. "Do tax incentives affect charitable contributions? Evidence from public charities' reported revenues," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 51-69.
    7. Uler, Neslihan, 2009. "Public goods provision and redistributive taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3-4), pages 440-453, April.
    8. Jonathan Meer & Benjamin A. Priday, 2019. "Tax Prices and Charitable Giving: Projected Changes in Donations Under the 2017 TCJA," NBER Working Papers 26452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Robert Carroll & David Joulfaian, 2005. "Taxes and Corporate Giving to Charity," Public Finance Review, , vol. 33(3), pages 300-317, May.
    10. Paskalev, Zdravko & Yildirim, Huseyin, 2017. "A theory of outsourced fundraising: Why dollars turn into “Pennies for Charity”," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1-18.
    11. Asatryan, Zareh & Joulfaian, David, 2022. "Taxes and Business Philanthropy in Armenia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 914-930.
    12. Roman M. Sheremeta & Neslihan Uler, 2021. "The impact of taxes and wasteful government spending on giving," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 24(2), pages 355-386, June.
    13. Meer, Jonathan, 2014. "Effects of the price of charitable giving: Evidence from an online crowdfunding platform," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 113-124.
    14. Naomi E. Feldman, 2010. "Time Is Money: Choosing between Charitable Activities," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 103-130, February.
    15. Nathalie Monnet & Ugo Panizza, 2017. "A Note on the Economics of Philanthropy," IHEID Working Papers 19-2017, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    16. Timm Bönke & Nima Massarrat-Mashhadi & Christian Sielaff, 2013. "Charitable giving in the German welfare state: fiscal incentives and crowding out," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 39-58, January.
    17. David H. Eaton & Martin I. Milkman, 2004. "An Empirical Examination of the Factors that Influence the Mix of Cash and Oncash giving to Charity," Public Finance Review, , vol. 32(6), pages 610-630, November.
    18. Zhiyong An, 2015. "On the sufficiency of using the elasticity of taxable income to calculate deadweight loss: the implications of charitable giving and warm glow," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(6), pages 1040-1047, December.
    19. Marx, Benjamin M., 2015. "Has regulation of charitable foundations thrown the baby out with the bath water?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 63-76.
    20. Teresa D. Harrison, 2008. "Taxes and Agglomeration Economies: How Are They Related to Nonprofit Firm Location?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(2), pages 538-557, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:42:y:2024:i:1:p:94-109. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.