Donations to e Foundation - tax credit

/e/OS Foundation & Community Announcements
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Over the past 5 years, e Foundation has received significant financial support from individual donators from Europe and the USA. Those donations contribute to the independence of the /e/OS project, ensuring that we maintain all servers and continue to disseminate privacy-related information to a wide audience. In combination with other financial resources, we have even been able to develop new software, such as Advanced Privacy, introduced in /e/OS last year, for the benefit of all.

And from now on, donations may qualify donators for a tax credit.

The reason behind this is that e Foundation is meeting the criterias to qualify as an organization in the public interest.

Practically speaking:

  • support e Foundation this year by donating to the project
  • we will have a donation receipt send to you
  • next year you will be able to apply at your fiscal administration for a tax credit related to your donation

The amount of these tax credit can be signifiant in some countries: it can go up to 66% of the donation in tax credit, which means that for a 100 € given to the project in a year, your financial contribution will be 34 € only.

However, please note that Tax credits related to donations are subject to your countries laws, so please check how much you can get in return. In particular, while this can work in many European countries, this doesn’t apply (yet) to US or Canadian donators. We will try to maintain useful information on this page, for each country.

The donation page is at https://e.foundation/donate

Country-specific information:

There is a comprehensive source of information related to EU countries available at:
https://www.transnationalgiving.eu/country-profiles

:us: For the US, tax credit doesn’t apply yet for e Foundation. We need to set up a Non Profit 503(c) organization in the US. Work in progress.

(thank you @crahn )

:es: For Spain, more details are available at: https://www3.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2021/capitulo-16-deducciones-generales-cuota/deducciones-donativos-otras-aportaciones/donativos-realizados-entidades-incluidas/ejemplo-deduccion-donativos.html

(thank you @AlbertoCaneteDj )

:sweden: For Sweden, it seems e Foundation should be approved first, so in the current state of things, no tax credit is possible. (to be confirmed because there is normally a trans-EU agreement that should apply to any EU country)

https://skatteverket.se/privat/skatter/arbeteochinkomst/skattereduktioner/skattereduktionforgavor.4.5fc8c94513259a4ba1d800064144.html

(thank you @Waldfee92 )

:fr: For France, it can go up to 66% tax credit for individuals, and 60% for corporations. More information at: https://www.economie.gouv.fr/cedef/reduction-impot-dons-associations

Patreon: tax credit possible depending on your country of fiscal residence (same rules as direct donations)

(thank you @Julien )

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

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So, in France, we can have 66% credit ?

If yes, it’s a very good news :tada:

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Yes. Will try to add insightful links to each EU country

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And in france, for compagnies, it’s 60%.

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The official rules for Sweden are described here (Swedish only it seems).
AFAIK this is the only way to get tax reductions from donations in Sweden (but I am no citizen nor an expert).

Summary:

  • First, the organization must apply to be officially approved by the tax agency before donations can be made eligible. The reference here is “intended to promote social aid activities or scientific research”, so not sure this applies to /e/.
  • At least 2k SEK need to be donated during the year (can be split from donations of at least 200 SEK).
  • The tax reduction is 25% of the gift amount, with a maximum of 3k SEK (by donations of 12k SEK per year).
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In the United States, I think it is a Non Profit 503(c) status that helps for tax-deductible donations.

Links to help achieve that:

  1. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/501c3-application-online/
  2. https://charitableallies.org/news/ready-to-start-nonprofit/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=501c3_startup&msclkid=3a17c946401f197993afad63bd0c0d26

Supporting documentation includes:

26 U.S.C. § 170 provides a deduction for federal income tax purposes, for some donors who make charitable contributions to most types of 501(c)(3) organizations, among others. Regulations specify which such deductions must be verifiable to be allowed (e.g., receipts for donations of $250 or more)

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Hello. Good news !

And for those who give monthly through Patreon, do those donations (minus the Patreon fees I imagine) also qualify ? That would mean being able to give more for the same final cost in the long run.

Thanks and keep on the good job you do to offer us a freedom friendly mobile phone solution.

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In Spain we have something similiar. Here is the information:

https://www3.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2021/capitulo-16-deducciones-generales-cuota/deducciones-donativos-otras-aportaciones/donativos-realizados-entidades-incluidas/ejemplo-deduccion-donativos.html

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Yes it works too for donations done through Patreon

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Fantastic news :fire: I’ve been waiting for this for a long time :grin:

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What about Liberapay and Open Collective??

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Not enough exposure, super time consuming for us for tiny income unfortunately…

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but to be fair, before 2023 donations through LP weren’t accepted, the info pages or communication channels don’t advertise it, it never received a campaign. It’s a nifty tool to manage foss donations.

Only thing lacking is probably only funneling through Paypal currently instead of opening to SEPA for lower transaction cost - but you must’ve your administrative reasons. I see you offer SEPA details on request.

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I’m donating monthly to /e/ directly with a french Virement bancaire. I guess I should provide you my e-mail address because at the moment I don’t see how you could contact me to send me a receipt :wink:

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You can send the information to the helpdesk@e.email ID. The team will do the needful.

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The foundation isn’t on the Danish list of tax exempt organisations. Maybe you should apply? :slight_smile:

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Thanks for pointing this out. Will share with the team to act upon.

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Not so sure /e/ is on the Italian list as well

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@GaelDuval I don’t know if this is possible Belgium :belgium: :

For an association or institution from another Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA), it must be an association or institution equivalent to a recognized Belgian association or institution and recognized in a similar manner in that other Member State, that is, under the same conditions under which associations and institutions established in Belgium are recognized.

https://financien.belgium.be/fr/particuliers/avantages_fiscaux/dons

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In Ireland here is how tax refund on donations work:

If an individual donates €250 or more in a year, the non-profit can claim a refund of tax paid on that donation.

If a company donates €250 or more in a year, the company can claim a tax deduction as if the donation was a trading expense.

Have not read the details but I’m guessing /e/ Founation would need to be based in Ireland for tax purposes to gain the tax refund from individuals.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/companies-and-charities/charities-and-sports-bodies/charitable-donation-scheme/index.aspx