4 ms·
The tax code is absolutely used as an incentive and punishment structure to guide behavior. Things are made tax deductible or not all the time. We don't need to
by dundarious 5y ago
The tax code is absolutely used as an incentive and punishment structure to guide behavior. Things are made tax deductible or not all the time. We don't need to get into questions of morality. And there's no issue with enforcement here. You say it's not deductible and maybe you audit their books after a few years. If they tried to write it off, come down on them like a ton of bricks.
- vorpalhex 5y agoSo we should not make environmental cleanup tax deductible? What about organizations who do environmental cleanup in general without having made spills?
- dundarious 5y agoIdeally, restitution should not be deductible, but it is. My understanding is that that's a pretty recent development, meaning it doesn't have to be so, and if it's undesirable, it can be changed. I think looking at it specifically from the angle of environmental disasters isn't useful or appropriate.