The N_B_L Prize

I've heard tell that Biblical Hebrew has no vowels. I learned today that the President of the World won a prize for talking about Hope and Change. The N_B_L Prize. I looked it up in the Bible. I Samuel 25:25. 'Nuff said.

Today's twisty thinking looped around the commonality of fraud in our society. Strangely enough, the sequence of neuronal activity began with a statement by a spokesman for someone whom I respect quite a bit for his clear insight into spiritual matters. The statement that "For a gift of any amount we will send you ..." triggered musing about fraudulent activity by those who purport that honesty is the only policy they will subscribe to.

I realize that the writing of books is a serious and time consuming process, and I fully respect the concept of wanting to be paid for one's labors. I also respect and defend the idea that a person may sell his property for any amount which the market might bear, or even give it away, as he so chooses. While I have not sent that particular person any "gifts", I have sent donations to other such entities (without any expectation of a "gift" in return), and have received a receipt from the donee for tax deduction purposes.

IRS regulations require that when claiming a deduction for a charitable or other non-profit or political contribution, if any item of value has been received in return, the Fair Market Value of that item must be disclosed on the receipt, and only the amount of the donation greater than the value of the item given to the donor can be claimed as a deductible contribution. Well and good.

That Fair Market Value can often be easily established because the item returned to the donor as a gift is an item regularly sold by the donee. In any event, by IRS standards, a "gift" that is received in return for a solicited "contribution" of money is an exchange. Any amount above the Market Price of the item is then recognized by the IRS as a contribution. However, if the exchange takes place on acceptance of a "gift of any amount", the possibility exists that the donor will receive a "gift" worth more than what he "gave" for it. Such an exchange leaves the donor with what is clearly a taxable gain by IRS standards.

In fact, when the solicitation leads a donor to believe that he is getting a "gift" in return for his donation, should the donee actually give the item at no cost to someone who has made no contribution, and then turn around and report on the IRS-required receipt that the value of the "gift" is $X.xx to the donor responding to the solicitation, the donee has clearly lied to the publican. By IRS standards, if the item can be obtained for free, its Market Value is $0.00, but if the Market Value is truly $X.xx and he has given it away, then the only equitable course of action is to inform the person getting the item that he has just been given a "gift" the value of which must be reported on his income tax form as taxable income.

Just as evil is the situation for the person who gave a "gift of any amount". If the item to be given in return is actually worth $0.00 because it can be had for free by somebody who has no money to give, then any Market Value stated on the receipt defrauds the donor of a possible tax deduction amount.

Similarly, when a church holds a fund-raising dinner and there is a "suggested donation" amount indicated for the meal, only the amount donated that is above the "suggested donation" is legally tax deductible for the donor, and technically, if such a meal is given free to someone who cannot afford the "suggested donation", the "suggested donation" amount is taxable income to the poor person.

Aha, says you, Grandpa Jim is a LEGALIST without care for the unfortunate. Such accusers may well deserve the N_B_L Prize. To lawyer one's way around the IRS regulations is legalism at its finest.

My position is simply this : a "gift" should be given with no expectation of anything in return.

The bottom line is that when you sign that income tax return, you state that everything you wrote down in it is true. In order to fill it out properly, you have to follow the directions that came with it, and accept the definitions that the government uses for the questions and statements on the form. Anyone who signs the form using their own definitions and not altering the form to insert those definitions, is a liar.

Of course, some brave soul might cross off the affidavit just above his signature on the tax return. That produces other kinds of problems. Honesty may be expensive and inconvenient, but when the people of any nation set aside their individual integrity, that nation is ripe for judgment.