How does a tax write-off become a gold mine?
You STILL have to have earned the money in the first place. So what, it's 100% deductible. Big deal. It's also 100% down a rat hole. If I want a 100% tax deduction on money I'm going to burn, I'll ask my employer to stop paying me. Therefore that money that I would have had and burnt, was 100% tax free!
It all depends on what end it deducts from and the person's opinion of paying taxes. If it deducts from taxable income you're right it's a wash, still out the money and who really cares what it does to your tax bill; if it deducts from your tax PAYMENT though it's a different matter entirely, a few of those kind of tax deductions can turn the ugliest tax bill into a refund, and even if it doesn't most folks would rather give money to just about anybody that isn't the government.