[CREATE] [LGF] Get a status : association, foundation ...

[Gregory Pittman]

On 06/04/2010 01:55 PM, Dave Neary wrote:
> Hi,
>
> a.l.e wrote:
>> in switzerland (and i think in germany and france, too) you don't need
>> to register an association.
>
> In France we have something called "Associations loi 1901" - you need to
> register at the prefecture, lodge statutes, minutes of AGMs and the
> names&  addresses of the officers of the association every year. No tax
> returns, if your budget is under a certain amount - but I suspect that
> with LGM the association will be over that limit.
>
> If you want donations to be tax deductible, you need to justify that
> your association is "d'intérêt général" - in the public/general interest.
>
>> what is harder to do, is to be recognized as a public interest non
>> profit organization (since free software is not so well known as
>> charitable activity and most of us refuse to exclude profits from the
>> uses of our software)... but: do we really need it?
>
> Bigger US donors will appreciate getting tax receipts for donations.
> SPI, SFC, GNOME Foundation are all already 501(c)3 organisations in the
> US, meaning that donations are tax deductible, and "related earnings" of
> the association are exempt from taxation.

Yes, and to elaborate on this a bit, just like these other countries, 
setting up some corporation in the US is quite simple and quick, but the 
nonprofit status takes some time. Also, the IRS tax code will not allow 
tax exemption for foreign-incorporated and certified tax-exempt 
organizations, and I presume the reverse is true, ie, US tax-exempt 
status has no meaning in the EU. Both the EU and US are quite acutely 
looking out for shady tax shelter schemes, so I think this is 
understandable.

I think what is typically done to satisfy both sides is to set up dual 
nonprofit corporations, one certified in the US and another for the EU. 
Because of the time involved, I would agree that this is not an 
essential initial step, yet in the longer run will likely be essential 
if we are to attract large donations from both sides of the Atlantic.

Greg