Over more than 20 years Sheldon Solow, an American property billionaire who died in 2020, gave a trove(一批珍贵物品) of art to his own foundation. This seemed generous: the public would be able to see works by masters like Matisse and Miró. Yet for years the gallery remained shut; even now it opens for barely more than one afternoon a week. The only real winner was Solow himself, eligible(有资格的) for tax breaks in return for(作为交换) his gifts. A similar study in ineffective altruism is Elon Musk’s foundation. Tax-deductible donations have built a stash(囤积物) of over $14bn, yet it mostly sits idle(闲置不用). What does go out is poorly targeted. The largest grant of 2024, worth $370m, went to a charity set up by Mr Musk whose main boast is a child-care programme near SpaceX’s Texas offices, serving ten tykes.(2024年最大一笔赠款流向了马斯克设立的一家慈善机构，其主要亮点是SpaceX办公室附近的托儿项目，仅服务十个孩子。)
在二十多年的时间里，美国房地产亿万富翁谢尔登·索洛（2020年去世）向自己的基金会捐赠了大量艺术品。这看似慷慨：公众将能欣赏到马蒂斯和米罗等大师的作品。然而，多年来画廊一直关闭；即便是现在，每周开放时间也仅仅超过一个下午。唯一真正的赢家是索洛本人，他因捐赠而获得税收减免。埃隆·马斯克的基金会则是无效利他主义的类似案例。可抵税的捐款已积累超过140亿美元，但大部分闲置未用。真正支出的部分也缺乏针对性。2024年最大的一笔赠款价值3.7亿美元，流向了马斯克设立的一家慈善机构，其主要亮点是在SpaceX得克萨斯州办公室附近的一个托儿项目，仅服务十个孩子。
In 2020 American households earning over $500,000 a year claimed(申领，索取) more than half the cash that government spent on income-tax breaks for charitable giving. As AI mints(铸造，创造) a new crop of billionaires, yet more plutocrats(富豪，财阀) will be able to use these schemes to reduce their tax bills. Most donations go to better causes than private art collections. Tax-advantaged dollars support hospitals and keep foodbanks going. They even support services that the state would need to provide if charitable funding dried up(枯竭，耗尽).
2020年，年收入超过50万美元的美国家庭申领了政府用于慈善捐赠所得税减免的一半以上现金。随着人工智能催生新一代亿万富翁，更多的富豪将能够利用这些计划减少税单。大多数捐款流向比私人艺术收藏更好的事业。享有税收优惠的资金支持医院，维持食物银行的运转。它们甚至支持那些如果慈善资金枯竭，国家将需要提供的服务。
But it is right to call time on(叫停，结束) such tax reliefs. In America alone they are likely to cost over $70bn in forgone(放弃的) revenue in 2026 (roughly the GDP of Alaska). There is flimsy(脆弱的，不足信的) evidence that these schemes prompt significant extra giving, the money is often misspent(滥用，浪费), and the result is more power for the wealthiest.
但现在是时候叫停这类税收减免了。仅在美国，2026年这些减免预计将造成超过700亿美元的税收损失（大致相当于阿拉斯加的GDP）。几乎没有证据表明这些计划能显著促进额外捐赠，资金常常被滥用，结果是富豪获得更多权力。
The Gift Aid that keeps on giving
不断给予的礼品援助