Tax evasion won’t work

Re “IRS should stop California,” letters, Jan. 10

I agree with letter writer Kip Dillinger that the plan being considered by the California Legislature to substitute a deductible tax credit for payment of state income taxes is laughable and will not work for the following additional reasons:

First, charitable contributions are deductible minus any value received in return. That is, if you give $100 to a charity and they give you a $40 gift certificate for a meal, you can only deduct $60. The value received is itemized on the receipt from the charity.

If a taxpayer wanted to deduct his or her state tax payment as a charitable contribution, the state would be obligated to reduce the deduction by the value of services and goods received by the taxpayer. That list could be quite long and complicated.

Second, a contribution is not charitable if it is not given voluntarily. Citizens must pay taxes or face fines and sometimes jail time. In contrast, I can choose to give to charities or not without sanction. Steve Murray Huntington Beach

Re “Democrats move to lessen pain of GOP tax overhaul,” Jan. 10

If I see one more mainstream media article referring to the massive heist as a “tax overhaul,” I think my head will explode.

If thieves in the night jacked up your car and made off with the wheels, would you label that an “overhaul”? Ernest A. Canning Thousand Oaks

The headlines for the Los Angeles Times article reporting state Democrats’ efforts to shield Californians from some of the pain they will feel after the GOP tax overhaul could just as accurately have read, “Democrats seek to cut taxes for the rich.” P.J. Gendell Beverly Hills