Paying It Backward by Tony March & Ph.D. Marvin Karlins

Author:Tony March & Ph.D. Marvin Karlins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Forefront Books
Published: 2020-03-09T16:00:00+00:00

A Giving Problem

The success we enjoyed turning the Buick dealership around was wonderful, but it did not make us immune to the auto recession of the late ’80s. Our business took a hit, just like every other car dealership in the country. In fact, Tony March Buick didn’t turn a profit at all in 1989. Fortunately, I had already paid off my Motors Holding loan early and had saved up enough financial reserves to weather the storm. I thought we’d be okay … until my accountant brought me an unexpected problem: I was in danger of an IRS audit.

My crime? I was giving too much money away. Ever since my college days, doing community service with Alpha Phi Omega, I’d had a passion for helping other people. I gave what little I could during the first decade of my career with GM, but my giving took a big upswing once I paid off my Motors Holding loan. I identified several charities I wanted to support and had started donating large sums to those causes. Even when we made no profit in 1989, I still donated a good percentage of our revenue to them. Apparently, this is a red flag for the IRS.

My accountant explained, “Your charitable donations are really high, but the business is only breaking even. The federal government is going to wonder why a person who’s not making any money would give so much money to charity.” I didn’t know what to say. The idea that the federal government would penalize me for supporting worthwhile causes was a shock to my system. It was an early lesson in having to figure out a good, legal process for doing the giving I’d always wanted to do. I just never imagined the government would try to stop me from helping people.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.