Of course it's not that easy -- just because taxes are relatively easy to compare does not mean that they are easy to compare. Good comparisons are always diffi

Of course it's not that easy -- just because taxes are relatively easy to compare does not mean that they are easy to compare. Good comparisons are always difficult. Re: nonprofits, I don't think those are the best counterexample to the "look at taxes" strategy because they are absolutely notorious for playing a part in the tax avoidance schemes of the wealthy. That doesn't mean there aren't nonprofits that write open source software, shelter animals, feed starving kids in impoverished reasons... but there are also nonprofits that serve primarily as a mechanism for getting money from point A to point B with the lowest taxes. The two are difficult to tease apart, and unfortunately that is the entire point.