The simple reason, at least in democracies, is that voters want charities to be tax free. If they did not care, you can be damned sure tax-free status would be dropped.<p>I don&#x27;t think there is any more complex moral reasoning than this.<p>I for one would never vote for a party advocating taxing donations. As to what constitutes a charity ... well that is another debate [0]<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mentalfloss.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;18575&#x2F;ikea-worlds-largest-charity" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mentalfloss.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;18575&#x2F;ikea-worlds-largest-cha...</a>