[Foundation-l] Fwd: The question of tax-deductible donations

Wed Oct 24 17:18:36 UTC 2007

Hoi,
A few years back I researched this issue for the Netherlands and found that
it is possible to get tax deductibility for organisations that are outside
of the Netherlands. It requires quality bookkeeping. It helps when there is
an organisation that can represent said organisation and is local to the
Netherlands. I also understood that it does not happen frequently; it is
often denied.

My understanding is that this should be possible in more EU countries. Do
not ask me to find this out.. It is rather specialised.

The tax office that deals with these issues it the one in Heerlen. The tax
office for tax deductibility for Dutch organisations is in Tilburg.

Thanks,
    GerardM

On 10/24/07, Michael Bimmler < mbimmler at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> [forwarded post from non-member]
>
>
> From: Mike Godwin < mgodwin at wikimedia.org>
> Date: October 24, 2007 4:36:20 AM EDT
> To: foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: The question of tax-deductible donations
>
>
>
>
> My own research today seems to confirm the view that, while in some
> nations a contribution to Wikimedia is tax-deductible, in others it is
> not. In effect, it seems there is no general answer, and the specific
> answers for each country can be maddeningly complex -- complex enough
> that we could spend a whole lot of time trying to dig up the answer
> for every nation where a donor might reside. I'll see if I can find a
> resource that makes it easier, but I'm not hopeful about that.
>
> So ... I'd like to de-emphasize tax-deductibility to the extent
> possible, if we can do it.  We so know that Americans who give can get
> a break on their American taxes.  We also know that some donors in
> other nations can do something similar, sometimes, to some extent.
> Beyond that, we don't have a general answer yet, and there may not be
> one.
>
> The point I think Brian McNeil has made is a good one -- only a third
> of Americans itemize their deductions, and we have no reason to
> believe the demographics of our American donors are different from
> those of Americans generally. (That's the null hypothesis.) What this
> suggests is, in the absence of more data about donors and
> deductibility, we should stress altruism more than the tax deductions.
> Yes, we can say "in some nations, including in the United States, you
> may be able to obtain a tax deduction for your donation."  Or
> something similar. But I don't want to take the risk of overpromising
> on the tax-deduction question.  We'd like people to give to Wikimedia
> because it's the right thing to do and not because they necessarily
> get a reduction in their taxes.
>
> I'm sorry not to have a neat, general answer to what turns out to be
> complex question, but I'm still researching it.
>
>
>
> --Mike Godwin
> General Counsel
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
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