Americans are quickly turning their back on potato salad.
Zach Danger Brown’s potato salad Kickstarter seemed to be rallying Americans together for the past few days. Brown garnered attention when his $10 project raised over $10,000. The fundraising soon shot up to more than $70,000. This morning, however, the campaign has only $44,000, according to it’s webpage.
Mystery surrounds the missing funds, totaling more than $25,000. Brown has not responded to media requests today or provided an update on his Kickstarter page. While it is “discouraged,” Kickstarter does allow backers to cancel their donations.
It is possible that backers opted out after Brown’s strange media appearances yesterday. In interviews on multiple networks, Brown told audiences he would make sure the money “does the most good possible,” but was vague on what that meant.
The Tax Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington D.C., reported yesterday nearly $21,000 — nearly the amount his campaign lost — of Brown’s $70,000 raised would go to taxes.
The high tax bill is a result of Brown’s simple concept. The Tax Foundation report assumes Brown would only be able to deduct $1,500 for business-related expenses. After this deduction, Brown would owe $8,632 in federal taxes, 1,712 in Ohio state taxes, $1,510 in Columbus city taxes, and $9,313 in payroll taxes. A final total of $21,167 would go to Uncle Sam.
The Kickstarter’s recent loss of money may be simpler than it seems — Americans don’t believe Uncle Sam’s wallet does “the most good possible.”
