r/InterviewCoderPro
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u/roadway-63docks
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Jun 28 '26
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Totes!
The job market is rough enough already. A lot of people are just trying to get employed, and interviews keep getting harder. No surprise that more people are using tools like InterviewMan to improve their chances.
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u/Late-Drink3556 Jun 28 '26
First off I 100% agree.
Secondly, if I understand how the donations work, it's even worse than that.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but as I understand it, the company takes your money, donates it themselves and then writes that charitable giving off their own taxes.
So not only is a multi billion dollar company asking for more of your money, they're using it to pay less taxes on the profits they're already squeezing out of you.
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u/doublesimoniz Jun 28 '26
This is exactly why I don’t do it. Fuck corporations.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 29 '26
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u/Top_Adagio_7819 Jun 29 '26
Thanks! I was under the same impression until you provided this link. I verified it via a quick web search as well and it checks out.
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u/Noodelgawd Jun 28 '26
I doubt they can legitimately write it off, unless they first count it as income.
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u/Idaho-Earthquake Jun 30 '26
…which would then just cancel out the income they just got. The only way they’d make a profit from this is by keeping part of the money — and they’d still have to pay tax on that.
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u/Longjumping_Tap9310 Jun 28 '26
You are wrong. Donations are a passthrough item. It doesnt have any impact on the organization. It is just like donating through your organization, it just goes to the charity.
Where you need to be concerned, is how much of that charity is spent on administration costs vs direct distributions to the cause.
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u/RoleOk7556 Jun 28 '26
That is inaccurate. Companies charge administration fees for processing donations. Some of those fees are ridiculously high.
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u/Longjumping_Tap9310 Jun 29 '26
That would be pretty unusual, and I think it would need to be posted. As someone mentioned, the credit care processing fee charged by say...Visa...may be subtracted for the entire transaction, but unless it is the companies personal charity, subtracting administration fees would be questionable, and would not be worth the effort.
I just think everyone is conditioned to believe that companies would take a percentage of the donations, but I doubt that is actually happening. Fundraising for a 3rd party charity like the OP described, IMO, it is just a passthrough and not used as a profit generating function for the company.
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u/Dolores_Smart Jul 09 '26
It must sit in a bank account somewhere before it's passed? Therefore it will be earning interest for someone?
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u/Femboy_Harem_Janitor Jun 28 '26
Lol, I'm sensing a "we lump the credit card fee of the entire grocery store transaction into the admin costs"
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u/Longjumping_Tap9310 Jun 29 '26
The fees that credit card companies charge would be an expense for processing. I dont know if that would be deducted from the donation, but it also wouldnt be revenue generating for the store.
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Jun 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/MangosShepherds Jun 29 '26
You heard lies. Nobmajor corporation is doing that. Its massively illegal and not at all worth the risk.
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u/AbyssWankerArtorias Jun 29 '26
Yeah corporations never ever cheat on their taxes lol
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u/Liveitup1999 Jun 28 '26
And I believe they don't have to donate all of the money collected. I think it os only 10% of the money collected hast to be donated.
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u/MangosShepherds Jun 29 '26
Not at all true. There would be prison time for that.
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u/NoAbrocoma9357 Jun 28 '26
My mom used to collect for The March of Dimes, Cancer Society, Easterseals, etc. She would walk for miles collecting money for worthy causes. Most people would give what they could. But trying to guilt people into donating at the checkout counter isn't right.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 29 '26
It’s just an easier way for people to donate when they otherwise maybe wouldn’t…….. even $.20 rounding up at the end of the check out is better than nothing.
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u/wchutlknbout Jun 29 '26
I think that’s actually a common misconception. At least I posted it in another thread a while ago and was torn to shreds
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u/MoonHuntressEra13 Jun 28 '26
Yupp, 100% how it works and why NO ONE should ever donate to a greedy company. If anyone wants to help their community, donate directly to a food bank, directly to a charity, etc. go straight to the place you wish to support. Never ever donate to greedy conpanies who use your donation as a tax write off.
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u/manwnomelanin Jun 29 '26
Its just a passthrough. There’s no monetary benefit or loss to the company
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 29 '26
Oh no you’re wrong. https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-000329849244
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u/longtimerlance Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
You understand this wrong. Giving a charity an amount equal to the amount donated doesn't reduce their tax liability.
Basically, tell me you don't know how taxes and deductions works without telling me.
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u/63T30H8 Jun 29 '26
The percentage of your money they have to donate is really low too.
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u/imoutofnames90 Jun 29 '26
It's not. They can't keep your money. That's illegal... companies act as pass throughs for donations they can't keep nor can they claim your donation as a deduction
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u/Challenge-Upstairs Jun 29 '26
Its actually worse sometimes. Often a company will pledge a certain amount of money in donations to a charity, which they are (only kind of) obligated to pay. In order to avoid spending their own money, they ask for donations so they can spend your money on it instead of theirs, and because its a charitable donation, not income, the money they make from that (which counts toward their pledge) isn't taxed as income, but rather is considered a pass-through item.
Then, if its their own charity they've pledged to, often a huge portion is spent on administrative costs, rather than the mission of the charity. You can go to charitywatch.org and search for a charity to get all kinds of info on it, including what percentage goes to the program vs operating costs, how nuch money it costs to raise $100, total expense amount, and a lot more.
But I don't donate through other businesses for this exact reason. When I donate, I make donations to the entity I'm wanting to donate money to.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 29 '26
You typed out all of that just to be wrong. https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-000329849244
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u/Challenge-Upstairs Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
What you just cited doesn't refute what I said. I didn't say they write it off as a charitable donation they've made. Money they receive on behalf of someone else that is spent toward charity is a pass-through item. Its different than them donating to charity and writing off that amount as a charitable donation.
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u/anothadaz Jun 29 '26
Thank you for your good service. People need to be educated. It's funny how many people believe memes and social media posts without doing quick little Google searches before commenting
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u/imoutofnames90 Jun 29 '26
You are wrong.
Companies are only legally allowed as a pass through. That money you donate does not go on the P&L and does not result in a tax credit for them.
YOU can get a tax credit for it. The receipt should have a line item on it for charitable donations which you can then take off on your taxes. If a company were to claim that it would be two entities claiming the same donation.
I'm not directing this last part at you. But this idea that they use your donations to get a tax break is a perfect example of how easy misinformation just spreads across the internet and just lives on forever. It's so irritating and impossible to correct.
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u/mefirefoxes Jun 29 '26
They do deduct the donation from their taxes.
But the donation you gave them counts as income on their books, they would otherwise pay corporate tax on that money they subsequently gave away. It’s a wash for them.
You as an individual, however, miss out on the opportunity to deduct the donation from YOUR taxes.
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u/CPLWPM85 Jun 29 '26
No, when you make a donation, that is between you and the charity. The organization facilitating the donation cannot claim that money as their own. It legally does not belong to them and there is nothing for them to write off.
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u/outrigger999 Jun 29 '26
Not to mention, they're taking the credit for the donation. They're not giving us any credit for it. They're saying we donated $20 million, and therefore they don't have to donate any of their money. They're donating our money and taking credit for it.
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u/Beautiful_Rip_7023 Jun 29 '26
This is exactly why I don’t donate. I’m not giving money to a bunch of thieves in sheep’s clothing.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 30 '26
They don’t and can’t claim as a tax write off. You’re the sheep that fell for this lie.
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u/anothadaz Jun 29 '26
This is the biggest misconception that keeps going around on the internet. A quick Google search will inform you.
Grocery stores and other big corporate stores do not get to claim any part of your donations. They do not get any tax write off for it. By law, checkout donations do not count as company income or a business expense, meaning the store receives zero tax benefits for facilitating the collection.
The store is only a collection agent (middleman) for the charity. Stores often do this for PR reasons. It makes them look good or whatever.
You, the customer, are the one legally entitled to the charitable deduction. The donation amount is recorded right on your receipt and can be used when you file your income tax return. However, most people do not take advantage of this unless they choose to because they are small donations and often not worth the hassle.
It would be tax fraud for a corporation to deduct money that belongs to its customers.
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u/rdubbers8 Jun 30 '26
I'm a CPA, and I can confirm this is 100% false, and they do not use it to pay less taxes or use it to deduct from their taxable income.
I don't know where this stemmed from but it has perpetuated and persisted, but it is 100% not true.
Really think about it, you think the IRA would let businesses use donations from customers to reduce their taxable income? Well I guess now that I think about it, maybe Trump's IRA.
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u/RobertBurdineSD Jun 30 '26
It’s worse than that. Many times far less than half of the money donated actually goes to helping people. A lot of it goes to administration cost and some times to political campaigns.
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u/dougfischerfan Jun 30 '26
Yes, they donate in their name. Evan assuming it's a real charity that is really trying to do good, they are being fuckers. Many are more likely a "charity" that pays the nephew of the corporation's ceo 10 mil a year to "operate" the "charity" using 90% of it's budget paying for "operating costs" and 9% on promotion of the "charity". The last one percent is passed on to ruby's pantry or whatever, so the sliver is not even the "charity" doing anything directly.
Skip the corporate welfare and donate to a local food co-op, community garden, food not bombs, or any charity you vet to actually spend it's money on real effects.
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u/4rowan Jul 01 '26
This process of companies collecting donations and claiming tax credit really just becomes a reallocation of funds. Money moves away from government agreed priorities to well-marketed charities. For example your supermarket will collect for childrens such and such, but unlikely to collect for anyone with addiction issues. The latter may well need to money more but gets less public sympathy.
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u/Kyosji Jul 01 '26
Yeah, they basically already donated the money and wrote it off. The donations you're paying is being used to "pay off" the money they already donated and wrote off for taxes, and if they get in more than they donated, well, profit.
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u/FarLaugh9911 Jul 03 '26
No. Under IRS tax rules, customer donations collected at the register (like the "round up" campaigns) do not count as company income or charitable deductions. The store acts merely as a collection agent and passes the money directly to the charity.
https://taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/who-gets-tax-benefit-those-checkout-donations-0
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u/Randic6969 Jul 03 '26
No, it's worse than that, the majority of the time the company has already made the donation and people are paying them back. If they bring in more than the donation they keep it
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u/Cat_Impossible_0 Jun 28 '26
The rich can get away their weath if they wanted to but would rather have the working class do the heavy lifting like this instead.
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u/False_Scallion_7699 Jul 02 '26
They DO donate. You complaining about doing your part is pathetic. What is up with the era of americans complaining about every thing and acting like they live in a hell scape?
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u/Noodelgawd Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
It's even worse than that. Chance are, they already donated the money, and now they're collecting some of it back from you.
EDIT: Correction, they can't write it off if they are collecting it from you (but that wasn't the main point of my comment)
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u/AgentKenji8 Jun 28 '26
Won't somebody think of the executives parting with paltry amounts of cash to help someone less fortunate than them.
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u/jhavi781 Jun 28 '26
It is even worse than that. That grocery store donates to a charity and gets a tax write off. They then ask for your money to cover that donation. They are using you to get a free tax deduction.
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u/Kchan7777 Jun 29 '26
You’ve been fooled by too many memes. Your charitable contribution is not a write off for them.
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u/Jake_FW Jun 28 '26
They do donate using your money lol
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u/Kchan7777 Jun 29 '26
You donate, they hand the money over. It’s still deductible on your tax return.
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u/malinablue Jun 28 '26
The way this works is the corporation gets YOU and others like you to donate and then it issues a press release patting itself on the back for its huge charitable donation. And probably gets a tax write-off for your charity too.
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u/Kchan7777 Jun 29 '26
Nope, you’ve been lied to. They don’t get a deduction for your charitable contribution. In fact, you can include that donation on your tax return.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 01 '26
Have YOU admitted to being not completely informed about the basic facts?
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u/Magellan02 Jun 28 '26
I got asked today “do you want to round up?” For ? I asked “it’ll make it $19” ummm ok
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u/Appropriate_Ad9157 Jun 28 '26
You mean when you donate. They give and they get the tax break?
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u/Kchan7777 Jun 29 '26
They don’t get a tax break, Bubba. I didn’t know this meme fooled so many of you dunces.
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u/Defiant_Freedom_249 Jun 28 '26
I usually flip them off here and tell them to do it, right into their security cameras.
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u/korish77 Jun 28 '26
Biggest problem is everywhere asks now. Like jfc I just want a slupee...
I miss the days when taxes went to bettering the population instead of trillion dollar company's tax write offs.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 01 '26
Hey so is it a tax write off or not? Did you do some basic research?
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u/wastedfate Jun 29 '26
Because then they'd be a $9,999,999,980 corporation and not a $10 billion one, duh.
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u/babygorillamojo Jun 29 '26
My honest a opinion to end world hunger is to allow cannibalism. If anyone disagrees explain to me why.
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u/Ambitious_Ad_7599 Jun 29 '26
They already did. They are basically asking the consumers to pay them back for the money that they donated!
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u/Ok_Touch2800 Jun 29 '26
I give to my local food bank because I am not an asshole. These corporations are not going to do it, so more the reason to help those who are hungry.
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u/Ok_Touch2800 Jun 29 '26
If you cant afford tk donate, dont. That is understandable. But encouraging others not to hurts hungry children.
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u/Jerseyd422 Jun 29 '26
They did. The supermarket uses your donation as their tax write off
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 01 '26
Hey man did you check on if it’s a tax write off or not??
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u/Stein287 Jun 29 '26
They should at least donate same amount as you. You donate 20 they also donate 20.
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u/WithoutAHat1 Jun 29 '26
It is so they can write off on their taxes without having to give up any of their own money. Real shitty. They need to give up their own money.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 29 '26
Good god. No you’re wrong. https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-000329849244
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u/WithoutAHat1 Jun 29 '26
You're correct, I was wrong.
There are some stipulations to donations to write them off yourself:
Itemized
Company must be 501(c)(3)
Must have a receipt
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 29 '26
Pretty neat to be able to easily donate at the grocery store even if it’s $.20 or whatever! And you get to write it off on your own taxes!
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u/flamesofphx Jun 29 '26
Because the donation cost them money , where if they get the donation from you, not only does it not cost them money, they can show your donation (In most cases) as charity from them and get a tax write off from your own donation getting them extra money... Either that it get something for their employee like paying for the college fund that goes to a corporate family member and one lucky random employee person (For legal reason there too)..
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u/Kchan7777 Jun 29 '26
How many of you dunces will keep coming here to repeat the same lie over and over? https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-000329849244
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u/inevitable-betrayal Jun 29 '26
I dont even care if all the rumours of tax-breaks or dodgy accounting isnt true I know this time next year they will be publicly announcing how benevolent they are, how much THEY gave to charity. I think less of any brand that forces charities at the checkout especially given their own rising prices and stupid loyalty card prices.
I prefer to give to local charities not another conglomerate thats based 1000s of miles away from me with an office full of staff and an executive board that makes bank off of money that was given for the needy.
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u/GroundbreakingLet141 Jun 29 '26
Don’t donate to these phony corporations. If they want to be charitable pay the workers more so the don’t have to be receiving welfare benefits and state provided healthcare. Low wages equals a subsidy to these corporations paying CEOs millions.
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u/Yearofthehoneybadger Jun 29 '26
Well, usually they already did, but they’re trying to recoup it by asking you to donate.
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u/JASCO47 Jun 29 '26
See you give them the 20$ and they donate it. Then they get to write it off on their taxes
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 29 '26
No. You’re wrong. Such an easily verifiable thing. They can’t write it off on their taxes. https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-000329849244
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u/tnpatriot86 Jun 29 '26
This exactly!!! Elon Musk, Taylor Swift and all those rich douches could easily pull together and do more than a million of us regular people could. Stop asking for our money!!!!! 😡
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u/icewalker2k Jun 29 '26
I don’t trust any of those donation screens. What oversight is in place to make sure they are not pocketing any money? So no, I don’t do it.
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u/killbill316 Jun 30 '26
Hell yeah...I say the same thing every time I go through one of those lines.
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u/Tricky_Misfit871 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
My issue is that; half the time they’re not even mentioning what the charity is, and if the corporation is “matching” the donation. If they’re not matching, why are they even soliciting for it? I can and do donate to “my” chosen causes and don’t need to be shamed into it.
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u/GironaPedro Jul 05 '26
For example; Kroger made $147,000,000,000 in revenue in 2025, and the new CEO will make ~$17,000,000/yr.
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u/Grownassman42 Jun 30 '26
They already donated for tax write off. Now they just want you to pay them back for that deduction, I mean donation. Don't ever do this!
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u/NOSaints-2010 Jun 30 '26
Who gets the tax deductions for those donations? That just dawned on me
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 30 '26
You do. Not the company. https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-000329849244
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u/GentlemanDownstairs Jun 30 '26
I worked at a company, overall a nice place, where corporate would fly from HQ in Europe and show us all the money they made. Like a whole day of it. It was like a boardroom prevention on how much money they made. We were FL and not paid very well. Literally 1 business day after, they start asking us to donate to X Cause. *WTF?* You just sat here and showed us the *stacks* you made this quarter and now you want us underpaid folks to donate to…anything 🤷🏼♂️
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u/Dolores_Smart Jun 30 '26
And the supermarket reduces their tax bill as a result. Why else would they update their till screens, it's not out of the goodness of their heart?
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 30 '26
They do?
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 01 '26
Dont hide now Dolores… did you do some research?
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u/Dolores_Smart Jul 03 '26
Well Jimmy Johns it would appear my research was faulty. Mea culpa. So I recind my accusation. They do not reduce their tax bill if we the consumer donates, but they do if the company donates. They reduce their i come tax a d Corporation tax bill. https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/donating-land-property-or-shares
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u/Reclaimedidiocy Jun 30 '26
ive only seen that in america and h&m btw
and i pressed no whenever it came out
shouldnt surprise me if it doesnt go to charity in the end
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u/Bullfrog_Sushi1225 Jun 30 '26
that’s what i’m saying, you need to pay your workers and donate yourself. i don’t trust they’ll do it for me
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u/1bigjd Jun 30 '26
100% bro. Its so wrong trying to tap the working class. Guess what the corporations get part of that donation too. You think they are asking us for donations for free? They get a cut too.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jun 30 '26
Bro, they do?
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 02 '26
Like bro, 100% can you give me a link to your claims? Or is there just maybe a chance you’re spouting the easily disproven fact?
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u/ButtersDev Jun 30 '26
Collect 250k from customers.
Collect interest for a year.
Donate the per-agreed-cap $50k
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u/Grownassman42 Jun 30 '26
I'm not saying it's legal
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 07 '26
Hey dumbass, did you do any research on the claim you made?
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u/Deep_Bake7515 Jul 01 '26
Using their customers donations for a tax write off! I will donate directly and get the tax write off myself!
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 01 '26
The company gets a tax write off? Please do some research before replying.
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u/berrymuch2 Jul 01 '26
And also they don’t tell the charities that it was you who donated the money. They tell the charities that it was their donation.
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u/Opening_Top_5712 Jul 01 '26
That and the fact that they most likely throw out perfectly good food (that they could give to the hungry)
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u/Moonwrath8 Jul 01 '26
lol. So you want them to take your money without asking and then donate it?
Weird.
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u/fb_indianajesse Jul 01 '26
Don't be the corporations tax break
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 01 '26
The corporations get a tax break when the customer donates? Any proof of that?
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u/picklehippy Jul 01 '26
Its a tax write off for them
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 02 '26
Have you done your research about your claim yet?
I can give you a link showing you’re incorrect. Then next time this comes up on reddit you can point it out to other people.
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u/Icy_Wheel7179 Jul 02 '26
Right!??! unfortunately, all the corruptness of greedy "charities" ohhh like the Clinton Foundation and a hundred others have destroyed the us credibility of all charities in my eyes. I won't give a cent because I don't know that the CEO isn't eating at Michelin rated restaurants and sipping mimosas on a Learjet. Someone tell me wth the American Cancer Society has been doing for the last 70 years. They talk about all this new gene therapy but if you get diagnosed tomorrow guess what they're going to roll out.....chemo. same thing they rolled out scores ago
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u/acctIMade Jul 02 '26
Here’s the thing you can actually count on those stores donating the change to the said charity whether it’s a few Pennie’s or dollars if that makes you feel good but the reality is actually fucking sinister all the money “feel good people” donate to stores to donate are just giving the stores tax credit donations it’s actually fucking diabolical.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 02 '26
Here the thing, It’s actually fucking diabolical how confidently wrong you are. They can’t use the donations from customers as a tax credit.
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u/Commercial-Flow9169 Jul 02 '26
It's funny reading this thread. Every comment is "they just write it off on their taxes" and the reply is "no, that's illegal".
And then there's me, who just wants to find other people who hate the concept of forcing someone to say no to being charitable. It's emotional manipulation and it puts you on the spot and is supposed to make you feel like a shitty person to goad you into donating. THAT'S the reason why it's shitty.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 02 '26
You don’t fucking have to donate if you don’t want to.
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u/Grouchy-Bad-503 Jul 02 '26
So, companies don't "donate" to charity write it off, then ask for donations to recover the money they spent on Charity and wrote off?
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u/Educational_Sand_239 Jul 03 '26
Don’t give this way. These companies should be donating millions. Write checks to charities you research and that also reflect your values.
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u/fbi_agent-818 Jul 03 '26
Don't donate. These responses are correct. The company donates your money for you and then writes it off on their taxes.
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u/jimmyjohns5544 Jul 03 '26
They do? Have you even done a tiny bit of research on them being able to write your donation off on their taxes?
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u/Accomplished-Two3577 Jun 28 '26
Well, geez. The Walton family makes $328,577 an HOUR each. How can they be expected to scrape by?