The simple reason, at least in democracies, is that voters want charities to be tax free. If they did not care, you can be damned sure tax-free status would be

The simple reason, at least in democracies, is that voters want charities to be tax free. If they did not care, you can be damned sure tax-free status would be dropped. I don't think there is any more complex moral reasoning than this. I for one would never vote for a party advocating taxing donations. As to what constitutes a charity ... well that is another debate [0] [0] http://mentalfloss.com/article/18575/ikea-worlds-largest-charity http://mentalfloss.com/article/18575/ikea-worlds-largest-cha...