Utah, The Most Charitable State (Sort Of) - Funny Article!

[Vance]

Utah gets more in Federal Tax dollars than it pays in. $1.07 received for every $1.00 sent in.

Yeah, and the Federal Gov't OWNS just over 70% of the land in Utah.

That is land that isn't taxable. Or in other words, it isn't producing revenue for the State or the Federal Gov't, (at least for the most part.)

So what?

[Avatar4321]

I wonder if a correlation can be drawn here.

If Utahns paying all that money in charity itemize their tax returns, they can get a deduction for the charitable donations they make. That would more or less reduce their federal tax burden.

Arguably, donation to charity is as great a contribution to society as paying taxes.

Arguably it's significantly superior.

[changed]

I've read a few studies, and I think religious people do tend to be more charitable, and not just to their church groups.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-11-15-column15_ST_N.htm

"those who attend weekly are more likely to volunteer in religious activities (no surprise there), but also for secular causes....The differences between religious and secular Americans can be dramatic. Forty percent of worship-attending Americans volunteer regularly to help the poor and elderly, compared with 15% of Americans who never attend services. Frequent-attenders are also more likely than the never-attenders to volunteer for school and youth programs (36% vs. 15%), a neighborhood or civic group (26% vs. 13%), and for health care (21% vs. 13%). The same is true for philanthropic giving; religious Americans give more money to secular causes than do secular Americans. And the list goes on, as it is true for good deeds such as helping someone find a job, donating blood, and spending time with someone who is feeling blue.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=2682730&page=2

"Religious people are more likely to give to charity, and when they give, they give more money: four times as much. And Arthur Brooks told me that giving goes beyond their own religious organization:

"Actually, the truth is that they're giving to more than their churches," he says. "The religious Americans are more likely to give to every kind of cause and charity, including explicitly non-religious charities."

[ERayR]

Utah gets more in Federal Tax dollars than it pays in. $1.07 received for every $1.00 sent in.

And just what does that have to do with charitable giving?