Law Commons^™

The Cost Of Progress: Enduring The Tax Deductibility Of International Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives, Wayne C. Wood

Global Business Law Review

Until the end of the twentieth century, the predominant view in America was that a corporation’s sole duty was to supply wealth to its shareholders. The idea that a corporation owes a broader duty to all of its stakeholders has gained ground based largely on the emerging international recognition of human rights norms. Increasingly American MNCs have opted to voluntarily create and implement CSR policies for moral, economic, and political reasons. While charitable donations made to exempt organizations are expressly deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code, the same might not be true for a given CSR expenditure. …