On Sun, Mar 11, 2001, Alex Shnitman wrote about "Re: IGLU Plea for Hard Disks
Donation":
> > I wonder what kind of tax and/or bookkeeping implications this has for the
> > donating company... How do you give some nonexistant entity some of your
> > property, but then claim it's actually still yours - you just have no control
> > over it?
>
> What's the problem -- if a company purchased the disk, can't they do
> with it as they please? Such as put it in a server which incidentally
> is not in their main offices?
When a company earns money, can it do with it what it pleases? Can it
take a stack of 100 dollar bills and just give it to one of its employees,
under the table and without letting the tax authorities know? Of course
not. So a company can't do with its property "as they please". There are
a lot of rules about the kind of bookkeeping a company must do when it spends
(or gives away, or however you wish to call it) money.
> What's the difference between that and buying a server & colocating it
> in some server farm?
Because there's a continuous spectrum of scenarios between the following 3:
1. My company buys a server and puts it in some server farm. I have
a contract with the server-farm-company to prove I still own the
machine and keep control over it (you'd be foolish to hand the machine
over to them without such a contract!).
2. My company buys a server and gives it to some guy that doesn't sign
a contract (because he claims the machine is not for him, but rather for
some organization, but that organization can't sign because it's not
incorporated). This guy can basically flee the country and keep the
machine forever, but we trust him not to do so.
3. My company buys some person a machine, instead of paying him money for
the work he did for us (e.g., he helped advertise us). Nobody pays taxes
on the money-equivalent that person earned, and everybody is happy except
the tax authorities.
As I said, I'm not an accountant. But I thought that the tax authorities
want a paper trail to prove that the actual scenario (#2) is closer to #1
(which is legal) than to #3 (which is not).
But this discussion is getting rather silly, because I'm arguing something
(law, accounting) that I have no formal knowledge of except my own
experiences. I'm sure that the companies that have already given you (us?)
hardware checked the legallity of doing so, and found that it is ok.
--
Nadav Har'El | Sunday, Mar 11 2001, 16 Adar 5761
[EMAIL PROTECTED] |-----------------------------------------
Phone: +972-53-245868, ICQ 13349191 |A Life? Cool! Where can I download one
http://nadav.harel.org.il |of those from?
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