The Australia Desk · Story 2

Why do companies do this? Can’t they make their own donation.

A post in r/AusFinance criticises companies that ask customers to add a charitable donation at the point of sale, questioning why the business does not make the donation itself. The discussion highlights contrasting views on the practice, including whether it yields tax benefits or serves as a PR exercise.

The debate reflects broader public scepticism about corporate philanthropy and whether point-of-sale donation prompts are a genuine community partnership or a way for companies to outsource goodwill while appearing charitable.

Key details

• The post received 3,197 upvotes and over 860 comments on r/AusFinance.
• Top commenters note that companies often claim to have “helped raise” money, making them look like good corporate citizens without claiming tax deductions.
• Another comment argues that any corporate tax deduction would require the company to first record the donations as revenue, which they generally do not.
• Some users say they would be more willing to donate if the company matched their contribution.

Discussion angles

• Many commenters argue that the primary motive is PR: companies use customer donations to burnish their image while paying nothing themselves.
• There is disagreement over whether the practice provides any tax advantage; several finance-minded users insist it does not, and criticise others for misunderstanding tax law.
• Some users express greater willingness to donate if the company matches the customer's donation, rather than simply passing it through.
• A portion of the discussion accuses companies of “sneaky wording” in public statements to imply they are the source of the donation.
• A few commenters say they would still donate for causes they care about, regardless of what the company does.