Controversial donations from Musk’s foundation
These data come from Musk’s latest tax return, obtained by Bloomberg News on Thursday. The annual return shows the foundation received a big financial boost from owning Tesla stock. It also donated $137 billion. Musk’s other non-profit organization “The Foundation”the aim of which was to establish a primary and secondary school with a STEM profile (generally exact sciences, including natural sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics).
It turns out that Musk’s foundation broke the lawfor another year in a row not transferring an appropriate part of its assets in the form of donations. This is the third such case in a row, The New York Times reported. In 2023, the foundation did not meet the lower threshold of $421 million. in donations. It was also in the red in 2021 and 2022. The 5% rule says that private foundations are legally obligated to donate at least this percentage of their assets to charity.
What is the risk for Musk’s foundation for breaking the law?
What could be the consequences for Musk’s foundation? By law she will have to Donate a higher percentage of your assets next year or pay a stiff penalty to the IRS – a special government agency responsible for tax collection.
Musk’s foundation is controversial. It has no employees and is run by a three-person volunteer board, headed by Musk himself. It is also difficult to find any large pro-social and beneficial actions in her actions. It rather looks like an entity that is supposed to pursue Musk’s own interests in a hidden way.
In March, the Times described the foundation’s activities as chaotic, and its main goal was to obtain large tax breaks for Musk. The entity was also supposed to support companies belonging to the businessman. According to the Times, in 2021 and 2022, about half of the foundation’s donations were in some way tied to Musk himself, his companies or employees.
