The GOP tax plan will pay millionaires to subsidize failing religious schools

BOING BOING

Until the GOP tax plan came along, rich people who donated to religious schools only get partial tax write-offs for their gifts, because the constitutional principle of separation of church and state obliged them to use special scholarship funds that were not under direct state control.

The tax plan changes that, offering 100% federal tax relief on these "supervoucher" payments; however, in 10 states, millionaires who make these donations can also claim state tax relief of up to 37% on their donations -- that means that for ever dollar a millionaire in (say) South Carolina gives to a religious academy, the government will give him $1.37 back.

Private schools are in serious financial trouble, with sharp falls in their enrollments sparking closures across the nation.

The new tax plan, which takes money out of your pocket and puts it in the pockets of the richest Americans to literally pay them to prop up these schools, might just reverse that trend.

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https://boingboing.net/2017/12/30/subsidizing-young-earthers.html