Forum Post: Fun Facts about the 1% and another way they screw America.

I was asked, not long ago, to help our church research 501 non-profits as a way of financing a homeless shelter in our community. During my research I discovered the seedy underbelly of 501 charities. Now let this bake your noodle for a while. A wealthy person/corporation can set up a 501 relatively easily, and the rules of 501 charities, simply stated, require that by the close of each fiscal year the 501 must be able to show that their books are at a zero balance ( the charity has made no profit ). They are NOT required to actually do any charitable works, and the "director" and other "officers" can draw hefty salaries from their non-charity as long as all the money is gone by end of the fiscal year. This begs the question ( as I always asked about Billy Graham becoming a billionaire ) if you are doing charitable work, how do you justify earning excessively more than you use for your charity? Not only are these scumbags NOT doing charitable works, but they are also able to take huge tax breaks for their fictitious charities.