Some people call the divorce of Mr. and Mrs. Gates the most important marital breakdown in charity. At that time, Bill Gates promised to donate 95% of his property to the Gates Foundation after his death. It is not clear whether the operation of funds will be affected. However, from Gates to Buffett and Zuckerberg, they all claimed to "donate naked" after death, leaving no money for their children. In the past 30 years, the number of foundations for the rich in the United States has tripled. Why are rich Americans so keen on charity? Of course, the answer is far from simple. To answer this question, we must first understand how private foundations exist in the United States, and then look at why donating to foundations is a more rational choice for the rich under the institutional background of the United States. 0 1 the upsurge of inheritance tax and the establishment of private foundations may be that at the beginning of the 20th century, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Ford and other then consortium leaders set up foundations to engage in charity. An important background behind this is the introduction of inheritance tax and tax reform in the United States. 19 16, the United States began to collect the total inheritance tax, and the initial tax rate was as high as 40%; Eight years later, in order to prevent people from turning their inheritance into a living gift, the US government introduced a gift tax as a supplement to the inheritance tax, with the highest tax rate reaching 50%. In other words, once the rich Americans leave all their wealth to future generations in the form of inheritance, half of it will be taken away by the state. And the money on the books can't be used to pay inheritance tax. Many rich people's property other than shares is simply not enough to pay taxes. Selling the shares of the company means weakening the control over the company, which is a career that has been hard for a lifetime. What shall we do? The rich find that a private foundation can handle all this. In America, donations are tax-free. If you want to cut off half of your inheritance and transfer it to the foundation, you can pay it back in one lump sum, avoiding the inheritance tax perfectly. Moreover, the internal regulations of western private foundations are self-determined, and the rich can appoint their children as the president of the foundation. In this way, all the capital flows are still in the hands of the family, and outsiders have no right to interfere. After its establishment, according to American law, the foundation only needs to spend 5% of its assets on charity-related activities every year. Attention is relevant, including the high salary of bringing future generations to work in the foundation, including all kinds of public relations expenses, including the reimbursement of eating, drinking and having fun at ordinary times. Trump has also been exposed to fancy tax avoidance before, similar to foundations. For example, you will know what imagination limits my wealth. For example, when recording a reality show, Trump allegedly spent $70,000 on hairstyle design, $654.38+million on his daughter's makeup, $300,000 on the design and decoration of the recording site, and what's more, there was a so-called "consulting fee" as high as $26 million. It must be the special teacher chatting with the director, and the assistant counted a few words from him. The price is clearly marked, and the words are meticulous. But for these rich people, even if they really spend more money on charity, it is cost-effective. Many foundations allocate a large sum of money every year to help people at the bottom, gain the public's favor and the whole family.