It’s not being pedantic; this changes the calculus altogether. Deducting from your taxes means you can say “oh well, I have to pay $1M in taxes, I might as well just use that money to make a donation to a charity of my choice and gain some PR instead,” whereas deducting your taxable income means “instead of parting with $1M in tax, I would need to part with $5M in charity to zero out my tax burden,” which is a very different decision and still largely a philanthropic one at some level or the other.
But yes, I meant your pre-tax income, as all deductions work. Credits apply to taxes directly, deductions always mean pre-tax income.
That makes no sense. If I get to deduct a donation, then when I donate $1000, it really only costs me $700. But it still costs me $700.
I would have more money if I never donated.
Also, it's hidden. If you used TurboTax for example, you put all your numbers in and get a number out. All you've heard is "donations are deductible" but there really is no obvious connection to putting in your donations and seeing how much it saves you.
It's still money gone from your pocket. It doesn't save you money overall.
Unsure if that index referenced, or any other studies/reports on this subject, account for this in terms WHY the donation happened or motive.
It does include willingness to help a stranger and volunteerism too, and those are ranked top 3 as well and doesn't reduce tax bills.
A lot of people only donate to reduce their tax bill.
Also, because we don't have a social safety net in the US, a lot of people donate to make up for that, which is certainly noble, but would be far less necessary if we had a stronger social safety net that more evenly distributed that wealth giveaway.