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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 19, 1986 Page 13
Consensus: Tax Reform Act
will not alter Jewish giving
by Richard Bono
I SI stafl v> riter
It is the contention of many in
the Jewish community here that
the new federal Tax Reform Act,
heralded to be a fairer distribu
tion of the nation’s tax burden,
will not appreciably alter charit
able giving to Jewish institutions
in Atlanta or elsewhere.
At the top of the year, maxi
mum income tax brackets will
drop from 50 percent to 38.5 per
cent with a concurrent drop in
the percentage Americans will be
permitted to deduct from their
year-end tax bill for charitable
giving.
But there is no indication,
according to a sampling of ac
countants in Atlanta, that those
who give to community-supported
Jewish institutions will either
stop giving or cut back signifi
cantly.
“I don't think the bigger
donors give because there is a tax
deduction,” said accountant Mil-
ton Bach of Atlanta. “They give
because that’s what they learned
to do. They were educated that
way. When 1 was president of the
local BBYO, we had a program
and we taught these kids to be
givers. Now they’re givers and it
doesn’t make any difference
whether they can make a tax
deduction for it.”
-Correction-
Temple Sinai pre-school
registration is Fall of 1987
not February.
The new federal tax law, how
ever. has sent many in the Jewish
community scurrying to their
accountants for advice on giving
to charity. In fact, the Atlanta
Jewish Federation (AJF) is cur
rently conducting a campaign for
its endowment fund urging peo
ple to give now. “The Tax Reform
Act will probably make 1986 the
last year to save fifty cents for
every dollar donated to the Fed
eration,” the solicitation reads.
“Don't miss out!"
Despite that appeal, AJF En
dowment Fund director Mike
Pousman and others maintain
that Jews in Atlanta and else
where give charity with only
secondary consideration to the
tax consequences. As to what
impact the new tax law will have,
Pousman said it's difficult to tell.
“Next year there will sort of be
a step reduction in the tax rate,”
he said. “Because of that, the
impact of the tax law will be
harder to tell. Had there been a
precipitous drop from the high to
the low, the effect would be more
ev ident."
To lessen the impact of the
nev\ tax law, its writers have
imposed a step reduction in the
maximum tax rate. From the
current 50 percent, the rate will
drop to 38.5 percent in 1987, then
to 28 percent in 1988. The min-
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