Tax incentives, individual characteristics and charitable giving in Singapore

Previous studies conducted for developed countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom have often found charitable giving by individuals to depend on income, the tax price of giving, and other variables. This article makes use of confidential tax file data to conduct a similar study for Singapore, a rapid‐growing newly‐industrializing country. The results indicate that disposable income, the tax price of giving, donor’s age and educational attainment are important determinants of charitable giving by individuals. Donations are found to be income‐inelastic but highly price‐elastic. Thus, lowering the price of giving through tax incentives can be very effective in encouraging private donations to charity.