IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pubfin/v7y1979i2p162-181.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Indirect Government Aid To the Arts: the Tax Expenditure in Charitable Contributions

Author

Listed:
  • Kerry D. Vandell

    (Southern Methodist University)

  • Michael O'Hare

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Government support of the arts consists of a familiar direct portion (including the appropriations to such agencies as the National Endowment for the Arts) and a less-well known indirect portion, including what Surrey has called tax expenditures. The tax expenditure that flows through individual deductions of charitable contributions to arts institutions from taxable income is estimated from IRS data and other sources, and is found to have been between $300 million and $380 million in 1975. This figure is over four times as large as appropriations for the National Endowment for the Arts (the principal direct federal aid program) for fiscal 1975. Viewed as a subsidy to the donor, it is found to be highly regressive.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerry D. Vandell & Michael O'Hare, 1979. "Indirect Government Aid To the Arts: the Tax Expenditure in Charitable Contributions," Public Finance Review, , vol. 7(2), pages 162-181, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:7:y:1979:i:2:p:162-181
    DOI: 10.1177/109114217900700203
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/109114217900700203
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/109114217900700203?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. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Boskin, Michael J, 1977. "Some Lessons from the New Public Finance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(1), pages 295-301, February.
    2. Boskin, Michael J & Feldstein, Martin S, 1977. "Effects of the Charitable Deduction on Contributions by Low Income and Middle Income Households: Evidence from the National Survey of Philanthropy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 59(3), pages 351-354, August.
    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. 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.
    2. Adena, Maja, 2021. "Tax-price elasticity of charitable donations – evidence from the German taxpayer panel," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 219-235.
    3. Blomqvist, Ake, 1997. "Optimal non-linear health insurance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 303-321, June.
    4. Martin S. Feldstein & Lawrence Lindsey, 1983. "Simulating Nonlinear Tax Rules and Nonstandard Behavior: An Application to the Tax Treatment of Charitable Contributions," NBER Chapters, in: Behavioral Simulation Methods in Tax Policy Analysis, pages 139-172, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Pierre Pestieau, 1994. "The current state and future directions of public finance," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 1(2), pages 169-174, October.
    6. Louis Kaplow, 2020. "A Unified Perspective on Efficiency, Redistribution, and Public Policy," NBER Working Papers 26683, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. 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.
    8. Dajung Jun, 2019. "The Effects of the Dependent Health Insurance Coverage Mandates on Fathers’ Job Mobility and Compensation," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2019n09, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    9. Lawrence B. Lindsey, 1985. "The Effect of the Treasury Proposal on Charitable Giving: A Comparison of Constant and Variable Elasticity Models," NBER Working Papers 1592, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Eleanor Brown, 1987. "Tax Incentives and Charitable Giving: Evidence from New Survey Data," Public Finance Review, , vol. 15(4), pages 386-396, October.
    11. Priller, Eckhard & Sommerfeld, Jana, 2005. "Wer spendet in Deutschland? Eine sozialstrukturelle Analyse," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Inequality and Social Integration SP I 2005-202, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    12. Gabrielle Fack & Camille Landais, 2010. "Are Tax Incentives for Charitable Giving Efficient? Evidence from France," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 117-141, May.
    13. Bönke, Timm & Werdt, Clive, 2015. "Charitable giving and its persistent and transitory reactions to changes in tax incentives: Evidence from the German taxpayer panel," Discussion Papers 2015/2, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    14. Ribar, David C. & Wilhelm, Mark O., 1995. "Charitable Contributions to International Relief and Development," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 48(2), pages 229-244, June.
    15. repec:rre:publsh:v:35:y:2005:i:3:p:246-65 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Ross Hickey & Brad Minaker & A. Abigail Payne & Joanne Roberts & Justin Smith, 2023. "The Effect of Tax Price on Donations: Evidence from Canada," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(2), pages 291-315.
    17. Backus, Peter, 2010. "Is charity a homogeneous good?," Economic Research Papers 270773, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    18. Billy Jack, 2003. "Redistributing to the sick: How should health expenditures be integrated into the tax system?," Working Papers gueconwpa~03-03-16, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    19. Zachary Halberstam & James R. Hines Jr., 2023. "Quality-Aware Tax Incentives for Charitable Contributions," CESifo Working Paper Series 10250, CESifo.
    20. 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.
    21. Backus, Peter, 2010. "Is charity a homogeneous good?," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 951, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.

    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:sae:pubfin:v:7:y:1979:i:2:p:162-181. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.