What happens when you donate to a charity at a store checkout?

Question

I’ve seen large corporations brag about donating large sums of money to charity.

Are donations collected at checkout (E.G Checking out at Publix and the cashier asks “Would you like to donate to cancer research?”) included in those sums?

Are donations collected used for tax benefits of the corporation?

In: Economics

Answer 1

No, businesses CANNOT deduct pass-through donations like those collected at registers. If they match, they could deduct the matching amount that comes directly from the company, but not the amount collected from customers on their behalf.