[EL] Tax incentives for political giving

[Dan Meek]

Oregon has had a $50 per taxpayer annual political tax credit, fully 
refundable, since 1970.  As I wrote in the New York Times on November 
27, 2011:

    Lawrence Lessig suggests a $50 federal income tax credit for
    political campaign contributions. Oregon has had a similar $50 state
    income tax credit for decades ($100 on a joint return).

    It has worked well, with about 100,000 Oregon tax returns claiming
    about $8 million in tax credits annually. So the big-money-addicted
    Oregon legislators have repealed it, effective at the end of 2013,
    so they can focus on their main sources of financing --- huge
    contributions from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals.

    DAN MEEK
    Portland, Ore., Nov. 17, 2011

    /The writer is chief attorney for Fair Elections Oregon, the group
    that promulgated an Oregon statewide campaign finance reform law in
    2006. /

The credits are expected to be $12.9 million in 2009-2011 and $17.4 
million in 2011-13.  The Oregon Department of Revenue writes in its Tax 
Expenditure Report (2011-2013):

    Data provided by the Department of Revenue starting in 1990
    indicates growth in the percentage of taxpayers using the credit
    from a low of 3.4 percent in 1997 to an all-time high of 7.8 percent
    in 2008 [most recent data available].  The percentage of taxpayers
    claiming the credit varies each year and the difference in number of
    taxpayers using the credit could be attributed to many factors,
    including the profile of candidates on the ballot, the number and
    subject matter of ballot measures, and the general political
    environment at the time.

    It is difficult to determine whether this expenditure has been
    effective in achieving its purpose. The credit amount is relatively
    small at $100 on a joint return, and the tax credit is low compared
    to the amount of contributions an individual could make in a given year.


Dan Meek

	503-293-9021 	dan at meek.net <mailto:dan at meek.net>	866-926-9646 fax




On 7/24/2012 1:24 PM, David Adamany wrote:

I'm catching up with the avalanche of posts in the past week.   On July 
21, Rick's blog noted that John McGinnis at SCOTUSReports had suggested 
tax credits for political contributions made by persons with incomes 
below $100,000. In the period of reform zeal during the 1970s, both the 
federal government and a number of states tried tax deduction and tax 
credit arrangements.   Early evidence then was that very, very few 
people availed themselves of such tax benefits in the states that had 
them or on federal tax returns.  The numbers were well below the numbers 
who checked off a dollar for the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.   
See /Tax Notes/, Vol VII, No. 1 (July 3, 1978).  Are there recent 
studies of actual state tax or federal tax data that show that 
tax deductions or credits have become more attractive to people or are 
more widely used in states that continue to have such systems?

David Adamany
Laura Carnell Professor of Law
and Political Science, and
Chancellor
1810 Liacouras Walk, Ste 330
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
(215) 204-9278



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