[LGM] Reimbursement Tax Treatment

Wed Nov 29 16:42:30 UTC 2017

Understand!

Actually, we never encountered any tax issues with sponsorship and
reimbursements. I have been involved in this “mechanic” for years, being
the responsible person for LGM with regards to reimbursements, except for
LGMs where we had a formal organisation behind, notably Brussels, Madrid
and Rio.

We have been served by GNOME for 2-3 years and there were no tax issues as
well.

Tell me if I am wrong but this seems to be a lot of questionning for which
the solution lies in being an associate project to SPI, who is a non-profit
and can handle all our financial needs (except, notably, the help to get
the sponsors but that’s another topic).

The decision we made a couple years ago to go with SPI implies that we do
not incorporate an entity ourselves.

Also, from the part of Google, they have been sponsoring LGM for years and
that question was never brought up. How they handle it internally is
something we don’t know and in any event we don’t have to know! This
doesn’t affect us at all, if the money goes through a non-profit.

Hope this helps!

Louis

2017-11-29 10:21 GMT-05:00 Frank Trampe <frank.trampe at gmail.com>:

> U. S. tax law affects the original transfer (from a U. S. company such as
> Google) regardless of where the organization is located. If deductibility
> is part of the deal, we must facilitate claiming it. The donor is not
> obligated to help us at all, and we need to be team players. Having a
> 501(c)3 would be very helpful for soliciting donations in the future, and I
> will seek to make that happen if we incorporate here, but it seems from my
> call with Dave that the Google sponsorship is actually expensible and will
> not require charitable qualification. Under U. S. tax law, business
> expenses are treated somewhat more favorably than charitable contributions,
> so this is good.
>
> U. S. tax law also affects disbursements if the organization handling them
> is American-registered. The U. S. government (and it's probably not alone
> in this regard) doesn't just allow arbitrary financial transfers to
> non-residents. There are laws governing those, taxes that apply to them,
> and a withholding scheme in place to make sure that the taxes get paid. I
> am confident that we could legally avoid taxes and withholdings, but simply
> ignoring the relevant laws because the recipient is not in the United
> States is not a viable long-term strategy for the organization.
>
> As to classifying a donation as a gift, that is sometimes necessary. Only
> expenses related to a person's business are tax-deductible. A reimbursed
> trip for non-business purposes counts as income. In that case, classifying
> it as gift income is the most efficient way to avert tax liability and
> withholdings.
>
> I don't know the taxes and rules in Canada, Spain, and Germany, but I
> imagine that they are not considerably less onerous than here.
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 7:13 AM, Louis Desjardins <
> louis.desjardins at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Franke,
>>
>> 2017-11-28 19:48 GMT-05:00 Frank Trampe <frank.trampe at gmail.com>:
>>
>>> How have we classified reimbursements for tax purposes in past years?
>>>
>>
>> We gathered all invoices from all travellers and paid only what was
>> backed by a document. We insist on the fact that we do need an invoice, not
>> a credit card statement. The real thing is needed. Whether or not this
>> document shows taxes is irrelevant. The amount is paid in full, tax
>> included.
>>
>>
>>> I want to make sure that I know all of the options before I talk to a
>>> tax lawyer.
>>>
>>
>> I would think you would need to speak with an accountant, not a lawyer,
>> but that’s only a suggestion. I don’t pretend to know the laws in the US!
>>
>>>
>>> Most of our payments will be to non-resident foreigners (not Americans).
>>> The United States does not have an applicable VAT, but it does subject
>>> certain classes of income to taxation and withholding (a deposit on
>>> possible taxes owed).
>>>
>>
>> The income is the sponsorship. The expenses are the invoices of the
>> travellers. The income tax should apply to the profits if the company is
>> not a non-profit. If the company is a non-profit, there is no income tax to
>> pay.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> There are several tax treatments that seem appropriate.
>>>
>>> In the best case, we would gather the necessary documentation to
>>> classify the expense reimbursement as being under a so-called "accountable
>>> plan
>>> <https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-aliens-and-the-accountable-plan-rules>."
>>> If the expenses are tied to the recipient's paid work in some way, directly
>>> advance the interests of the payer, and are fully backed by receipts, we
>>> can fit them into that silo in many cases. *They would not be subject
>>> to any taxation or withholding*. In this case, donors whose business
>>> interests are served by the meeting can deduct their shares of these
>>> reimbursements.
>>>
>>
>> The entity that reimburses should definitely be a non-profit.
>>
>> What happens at the other end (the person being reimbursed) is beyond our
>> scope. We cannot be responsible for the income and tax matters that affect
>> anyone, in various jurisdictions. That person receives a payment and if
>> there is an investigation by the government of the country where that
>> person lives, the invoice is enough to show that it was only that that was
>> reimbursed. Moreover, the traveller has paid with its own money which has
>> already been taxed. The money on the first place belongs to the traveller
>> who pays the ticket. The government has no right on that money once the
>> person has paid his income tax. What remains in his pocket belongs to him,
>> period. What LGM does in only reimbursing an expense to that person.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> In a case in which the recipient is in an appropriate field of work but
>>> fails to meet some of the finer points of the accountable plan, *30% of
>>> the amount paid would be subject to withholding, all recoverable upon
>>> submission of a U. S. tax return*.
>>>
>>
>> To my understanding, this falls into the category of revenue. A
>> reimbursement is not that. (You have no more money in your pocket once you
>> get your reimbursement.) Even if it was accounted as a revenue (which I
>> doubt, but in any event), it would apply to a US citizen only. No traveller
>> from outside the US would have to pay income tax to the US.
>>
>>
>>
>>> The recipient could either classify the money as a business expense or
>>> (in case he has no other American income) allow it as income and still pay
>>> no taxes due to the standard deduction ($6,350). For requests filed before
>>> January 1st and thus considered reimbursed in 2017, the recipient could
>>> close out his tax year and request a refund at the beginning of 2018. This
>>> handling is also tax-deductible for donors.
>>>
>>
>> Donors are companies who have an accounting dept and their donations are
>> considered as expenses. They provide a PO# and the non-profit organisation
>> provides an invoice. The money is issued. The transaction is complete. How
>> the donors handle the transaction after is also beyond our scope.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> In case the recipient is not in an appropriate field of work, we might
>>> be able to classify the reimbursement as a gift. Since all such "gifts"
>>> would be under $14,000, *they would not incur any tax liabilities or
>>> reporting requirements*. The downside of this approach is that the
>>> money would be in a separate silo that would not be expensible by donors
>>> for tax purposes.
>>>
>>
>> I don’t think this apply to the reimbursements. But I agree there is a
>> possibility that it could be considered as a gift but this would only
>> affect US residents, if it applies. Again, with the proof of purchase and
>> the evidences that the LGM really happened at the said dates, it should be
>> enough to clarify the situation, if clarifications are needed to prove that
>> the reimbursement transaction is not a gift but only that, a reimbursement.
>>
>> I hope this help.
>>
>> Louis
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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