Re: European bank account for donations
Le 9 mars 2012 23:51, "Luc Pionchon" a écrit : > > On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 22:36, Brian Cameron wrote: > > > > Are any of GNOME's 3 sister organizations that have bank accounts in > > Europe a tax free charity currently? > > About French associations tax law, in a nutshell: > > GNOME-FR is a non-profit organization, so called "association loi > 1901". As a non-profit organization, it is tax free. I am not sure > what you mean by "charity" and how it translates into French fiscal > system. Charity is mean in the sense donations are deductible from your own tax. GNOME-fr is not a charity in that sense, it would need to become a "association reconnue d'utilité publique", which is a lot of paper work and budget . -- Frédéric Crozat ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: European bank account for donations
On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 22:36, Brian Cameron wrote: > > Are any of GNOME's 3 sister organizations that have bank accounts in > Europe a tax free charity currently? About French associations tax law, in a nutshell: GNOME-FR is a non-profit organization, so called "association loi 1901". As a non-profit organization, it is tax free. I am not sure what you mean by "charity" and how it translates into French fiscal system. There are some situations where "associations loi 1901 " would have to pay taxes, like when competing against commercial organizations, or working exclusively for commercial organizations, etc. basically when the non-profit aspect becomes questionable. This is not the case of GNOME-FR today. If the organization is of general interest, there is a possibility for people paying taxes in France to deduct from their own taxes a portion of their donations. I don't know if GNOME-FR made the request. I think it would qualify. To be confirmed. About the rules to transfer money to or from a US organization (the GNOME foundation), I don't know. I asked to one of my brothers. > If not, then are we in a position > to meet requirements and set one up? > > We need to better understand the tax implications. I do not think it > makes sense for The GNOME Foundation to use European banks if the tax > burdens outweigh the expense of bank transfers. What are the tax > implications? > > I think The GNOME Foundation would be excited to see any serious > proposal that explains a plan and describes what sort of savings The > GNOME Foundation should expect by doing this. > > Brian > > > > On 03/ 9/12 09:39 AM, Joaquim Rocha wrote: >> >> On 03/09/2012 12:27 PM, Dave Neary wrote: >>> >>> GNOME has at least 3 sister organisations, with bank accounts, in the >>> EU: GNOME Hispanic, GNOME-fr and GNOME Deutschland eV. >> >> >> It's actually GNOME Hispano. >> >>> Why not create some kind of official relationship with one or more of >>> them? >> >> >> I think this is a good idea. This relationship could be based on trust >> instead of creating yet another organ, with all the bureaucracy it often >> involves. >> >> The groups could receive "generic" donations that would be tight to the >> GNOME Foundation instead of the local "branches" and whenever the money >> needed to be used in Europe, it would be used from them. >> >> -- >> Joaquim Rocha >> ___ >> foundation-list mailing list >> foundation-list@gnome.org >> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list > > > ___ > foundation-list mailing list > foundation-list@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: European bank account for donations
Are any of GNOME's 3 sister organizations that have bank accounts in Europe a tax free charity currently? If not, then are we in a position to meet requirements and set one up? We need to better understand the tax implications. I do not think it makes sense for The GNOME Foundation to use European banks if the tax burdens outweigh the expense of bank transfers. What are the tax implications? I think The GNOME Foundation would be excited to see any serious proposal that explains a plan and describes what sort of savings The GNOME Foundation should expect by doing this. Brian On 03/ 9/12 09:39 AM, Joaquim Rocha wrote: On 03/09/2012 12:27 PM, Dave Neary wrote: GNOME has at least 3 sister organisations, with bank accounts, in the EU: GNOME Hispanic, GNOME-fr and GNOME Deutschland eV. It's actually GNOME Hispano. Why not create some kind of official relationship with one or more of them? I think this is a good idea. This relationship could be based on trust instead of creating yet another organ, with all the bureaucracy it often involves. The groups could receive "generic" donations that would be tight to the GNOME Foundation instead of the local "branches" and whenever the money needed to be used in Europe, it would be used from them. -- Joaquim Rocha ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Deutchland e.V. [Was: Re: European bank account for donations]
Heya, I remember a similar discussion some time ago, but can't search the archives atm. On 09.03.2012 13:30, Chris Kühl wrote: > Does the GNOME e.V. even exist any longer? It never existed, i.e. it never was a "e.V." (which is able to give tax deductible invoices). In the thread I remember Murray kinda explained the situation. It's probably not terribly hard to set an e.V. up though. I takes a handful of people and some administrative overhead. But yeah, we'd need them first... HTH, Tobi signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: European bank account for donations
On 03/09/2012 12:27 PM, Dave Neary wrote: GNOME has at least 3 sister organisations, with bank accounts, in the EU: GNOME Hispanic, GNOME-fr and GNOME Deutschland eV. It's actually GNOME Hispano. Why not create some kind of official relationship with one or more of them? I think this is a good idea. This relationship could be based on trust instead of creating yet another organ, with all the bureaucracy it often involves. The groups could receive "generic" donations that would be tight to the GNOME Foundation instead of the local "branches" and whenever the money needed to be used in Europe, it would be used from them. -- Joaquim Rocha ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Deutchland e.V. [Was: Re: European bank account for donations]
On Fri, March 9, 2012 7:30 am, Chris Kühl wrote: > On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 12:27 PM, Dave Neary wrote: >> Hi, >> >> GNOME has at least 3 sister organisations, with bank accounts, in the >> EU: GNOME Hispanic, GNOME-fr and GNOME Deutschland eV. >> >> Why not create some kind of official relationship with one or more of >> them? I've looked into this in other contexts and always came up against the unknown tax consequences blocker - anyone know a tax lawyer in these countries who would maybe do some pro bono work for us? (All the lawyers I know in the free software world are copyright lawyers and such, and I've never gotten a great lead on an affordable or pro bono tax lawyer.) >> > > Looking at the GNOME Deutschland e.V. website[1], I wouldn't consider > it a likely candidate for such a relationship and the writing on that > page doesn't seem likes it's always in GNOME's best interest. It > states that the site is run by an individual and has no connection > with GNOME e.V. Does the GNOME e.V. even exist any longer? There's > probably a backstory to this I'm not aware of. A very interesting question - I'd love to know more about this. karen ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Deutchland e.V. [Was: Re: European bank account for donations]
On Fr, 2012-03-09 at 13:30 +0100, Chris Kühl wrote: > On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 12:27 PM, Dave Neary wrote: > > Hi, > > > > GNOME has at least 3 sister organisations, with bank accounts, in the EU: > > GNOME Hispanic, GNOME-fr and GNOME Deutschland eV. > > > > Why not create some kind of official relationship with one or more of them? > > > > Looking at the GNOME Deutschland e.V. website[1], I wouldn't consider > it a likely candidate for such a relationship and the writing on that > page doesn't seem likes it's always in GNOME's best interest. It > states that the site is run by an individual and has no connection > with GNOME e.V. Does the GNOME e.V. even exist any longer? There's > probably a backstory to this I'm not aware of. There was or is a trend to "hijack" expired German Linux- or FOSS-related domains, put up some good-looking information and hide some scam (mostly insurances) links inside them. My old Linux-User-Group suffered from this as well. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
GNOME Deutchland e.V. [Was: Re: European bank account for donations]
On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 12:27 PM, Dave Neary wrote: > Hi, > > GNOME has at least 3 sister organisations, with bank accounts, in the EU: > GNOME Hispanic, GNOME-fr and GNOME Deutschland eV. > > Why not create some kind of official relationship with one or more of them? > Looking at the GNOME Deutschland e.V. website[1], I wouldn't consider it a likely candidate for such a relationship and the writing on that page doesn't seem likes it's always in GNOME's best interest. It states that the site is run by an individual and has no connection with GNOME e.V. Does the GNOME e.V. even exist any longer? There's probably a backstory to this I'm not aware of. Cheers, Chris [1] http://www.gnome-ev.de/ > Dave. > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: European bank account for donations
Hi, GNOME has at least 3 sister organisations, with bank accounts, in the EU: GNOME Hispanic, GNOME-fr and GNOME Deutschland eV. Why not create some kind of official relationship with one or more of them? Dave. "Andy Wingo" wrote: >On Fri 09 Mar 2012 11:39, Bastien Nocera writes: > >> The GNOME Foundation is a US not-for-profit entity. We do not have >any >> legal existence in the EU or the EEA, and thus cannot hold a bank >> account in the EU. > >I wonder if setting up a "GNOME Foundation.eu" wouldn't be a bad >idea. Of course you wouldn't be able to easily transfer between the >two >organizations. But you could set it up with a similar governmental >structure. > >Dunno, just throwing the idea out there. > >Andy >-- >http://wingolog.org/ >___ >foundation-list mailing list >foundation-list@gnome.org >http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: European bank account for donations
On Fri 09 Mar 2012 11:39, Bastien Nocera writes: > The GNOME Foundation is a US not-for-profit entity. We do not have any > legal existence in the EU or the EEA, and thus cannot hold a bank > account in the EU. I wonder if setting up a "GNOME Foundation.eu" wouldn't be a bad idea. Of course you wouldn't be able to easily transfer between the two organizations. But you could set it up with a similar governmental structure. Dunno, just throwing the idea out there. Andy -- http://wingolog.org/ ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: European bank account for donations
Hello Alexander, Em Fri, 2012-03-09 às 11:15 +0100, Alexander van Loon escreveu: > Hello, > Not only does my Dutch bank require an IBAN-number for foreign bank > transfers – which the fundraiser page does not provide – the cost for a > transfer to the USA is prohibitive. > > My bank charges € 5 for transfers to countries not belonging to the EEA > [2] and if I pay for the costs of the receiving bank in the USA another > € 9 is added. By contrast, my bank (and I assume many other banks in the > Netherlands and the EU) charges no fee for bank transfers within the > EEA. > > So in short, could the GNOME Foundation provide a bank account at a bank > in the EEA so that most Europeans can donate without any additional cost > (I'm sure PayPal also takes a cut)? I'm sure somebody will be able to get into more details about this problem, but I'll sum it up. The GNOME Foundation is a US not-for-profit entity. We do not have any legal existence in the EU or the EEA, and thus cannot hold a bank account in the EU. This has caused problems in the past, for organising GUADEC for example, when trying to limit the amount of cost for transfers, and currency exchange commissions. Last year, I looked through the possible options for opening Euro accounts for the Foundation through international banks like Barclay's, HSBC, and others. I could find nothing that would be appropriate for the Foundation. If anybody knows of bank account in Euros that could be held by a US entity, do let us know. Cheers ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
European bank account for donations
Hello, Recently I noticed the fundraiser for GNOME Accessibility. Even though I personally have no interest in accessibility features whatsoever, I'm quite satisfied with GNOME nowadays so I decided to donate something too. The fundraiser page [1] offers two options for donating: PayPal or a bank transfer to a bank in the USA. PayPal is a company I don't want to do any business with since they decided to sabotage WikiLeaks. That leaves only the bank transfer to the USA as an option, but this has a great disadvantage. Not only does my Dutch bank require an IBAN-number for foreign bank transfers – which the fundraiser page does not provide – the cost for a transfer to the USA is prohibitive. My bank charges € 5 for transfers to countries not belonging to the EEA [2] and if I pay for the costs of the receiving bank in the USA another € 9 is added. By contrast, my bank (and I assume many other banks in the Netherlands and the EU) charges no fee for bank transfers within the EEA. So in short, could the GNOME Foundation provide a bank account at a bank in the EEA so that most Europeans can donate without any additional cost (I'm sure PayPal also takes a cut)? Greetings, Alexander van Loon [1] http://www-old.gnome.org/friends/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Area ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
