I’m afraid you’d be surprised by large parts of the tax code, which I think can only be described as “perverse.”
If you make an agreement “I’ll do X if in exchange you do Y,” that isn’t even a perverse case. Obviously the tax code will treat that differently than doing X without any expectation of reciprocity, and the treatment depends on Y. E.g., if Y is “give a scholarship to my child,” then this probably isn’t going to be taxed as a donation, even though both X and Y could be deductible in isolation.
I’m afraid you’d be surprised by large parts of the tax code, which I think can only be described as “perverse.”
If you make an agreement “I’ll do X if in exchange you do Y,” that isn’t even a perverse case. Obviously the tax code will treat that differently than doing X without any expectation of reciprocity, and the treatment depends on Y. E.g., if Y is “give a scholarship to my child,” then this probably isn’t going to be taxed as a donation, even though both X and Y could be deductible in isolation.