<prompt> Human: I know that certain charitable contributions are tax deductible... I love the idea that I can play a direct role in how some of my money can be used for a greater good, rather than giving a blanket check the IRS to use as they deem fit. But how much? Say my tax bill is 10k to the IRS, I know I cant deduct ALL of that by giving 10k to a local charity, right? how does that work? Also, does the government determine how to use the remainder of what I actually pay depending on what Ive deducted? i.e., if i give to education based causes, do they deny my taxes to education spending, or does it just get spread out as it normally would without the deductions? Assistant: If you already itemize and you owe 10k to the IRS, you would need to donate 10k x 1 your tax bracket. So if youre in the 25 tax bracket, youd need to donate 40k to owe the IRS nothing if you already itemize.No, what charities you give to has nothing to do with the budget Congress decides.Human: Ok, so that changes my view that its impossible to entirely reduce your taxes to 0 through charitable giving, its just that youd have to give a huge amount... its not a 1:1 deduction? i.e if I donate 100, I can only deduct 25 of that if in the 25 bracket from what I owe the IRS?  <response>: Its a deduction that reduces your taxable income amount before you actually compute your tax. So a 100 donation would change your tax by 25 if you are itemizing.It is not a tax credit that applies after you have computed your income tax to reduce your tax dollar for dollar 1:1 as you say. 