Adverising, charity and taxes.

[Eric P]

As tax prep season approaches, I had a thought about all these companies advertising that if you purchase their junk, they will give a portion of the proceeds to charity.

Why shouldn't the purchaser of said junk get the charitable deduction for purchasing the said junk?

If you could find out how much of your purchase went to the charity, why couldn't you claim a charitable deduction for the that fraction of your purchase?

But more importantly to me, is if I don't like the charity they are giving to, can't I get a price reduction equal to the charitable portion and be able to give it to a charity of my choice?

[Aloha_Shooter]

If you want to buy something, buy it at the price you're willing to pay for it. If you want to give to charity, give what you want to the charity you want. Anything else is a sales pitch.

[Eric P]

You missed the question. For example Subaru was advertising this winter that if you buy a from them, you pick from 5-6 charities that they will donate to. Why should you pay for their charitable donation instead of receiving a discount to give to a charity of your choice?

[rbeau30]

I would assume they are profiting twice from your business in this case:

1) You are thinking about buying from them because your purchase benefits charities.
2) They take the tax deduction for the year.

Both are the answer to your question. That is why they are doing it.

[Aloha_Shooter]

No I didn't miss the question. The question is moot.