Guilt: Settling with Uncle Sam

One donation, for 44 cents, came from a woman who confessed to reusing two postage stamps. A gift of $2,000 came from an anonymous donor who wanted to clear his conscience with “the IRS and with God.” The largest deposit — $50,000 from a man who gave no reason for sending the money — helped to set a new record for contributions to the Federal Government’s “conscience fund,” the account made up of donations from guilt-ridden citizens. In 1986 the fund tallied $380,929.49 — greater than any year since the fund was established in 1811, when an anonymous donor sent $5.

In the fund’s 175 years, remorseful citizens have turned over more than $5.7 million. Some offerings are larger in spirit than in dollar value. A former federal employee who felt guilty about copying private letters on a Government duplicating machine sent in $20 last year. He figured the copying cost came to $5, but he sent more “because the Bible says to repay fourfold.”