[LGM] finances

[Soenke Zehle]

Hi all,

ok here's what I can say at this pt:

> 1. SZ: What is the effect for K8 if the deal is a sponsorship, not a donation?

It depends. If we assume for now that the usual German sponsorship
regulations apply (waiting to hear from our tax lawyer here) the key
issue is what Google stipulates in the agreement - if they want
marketing-relatred outcomes (the most common case in sponsorship
agreements), the recipient's activities would be taxable; if the
entire money is spend on non-profit activities it is taxfree.

The way I would handle this is that the contract says the money is to
support the organisation and implementation of a research-based
conference (LGM) and covers costs such as travel stipends for
attendees, other event-related costs, and video documentation to be
released as open educational resource under an appropropriate
non-commercial licence (take your pick).

Google (i.e. you, Dave...) would then be free to republish this with a
"thank you" note included. German tax law literally distinguishes
between including a logo on a website (taxfree) and including a logo
that is linked to the company website (taxable), so this stuff
matters. If someone else can edit the logo into the video we should be
fine.

> 1b. DC: A sponsorship draft agreement should be shared fro Dave to review what the obligations on K8, and for the LGM, will be. I'll try to do that in the next few days :)

Pls do, happy to edit if need be :)

> 1c. SZ: Will K8 be able to provide video recording of the event and publication within a reasonable timeframe?
For 2019 sure. For 2018 this would be a question for the Sevilla team imo.

> 2. SZ: If the money is coming from outside the EU, will VAT be due (hopefully no)?

See 1.

> 2b. SZ: Can K8 provide a W8BEN form (https://www.google.com/search?q=w8+ben)?

I am checking whether this is the form that actually applies in this
case, the application process is quite demanding.

> 3. SZ: What if someone from the LGM community wants to adminster the funds; could K8 reduce or share the 15% with them?

Of course. I think this also covers Frank's related question. Details
to be discussed when we get to organizational who-does-what details.
K8 is a non-profit, this is not about making money but covering cost.

One route to pursue is what Frank suggested - prepare a list with all
names / amounts / accounts and upload that to PayPal under their
non-profit pricing scheme for a batch transfer.

IBAN-based Paymens to the Sevilla team are simple, they would be
subject to the intra-European reverse charge process. The question
here is whether someone / some organization could send a summary
invoice for conference-related expenses and then smaller payments are
made with that money. I don't think it makes sense to have
cross-European reimbursements for rentals, local transportation,
catering or whatever else the money is spend on.

>SZ: Aside from VAT, would K8 take the necessary steps to ensure that the tax treatment of the reimbursements (particularly across national boundaries) doesn't result in withholdings on the reimbursements when they are expensible by recipients? Is there a way to avoid imputing taxable income to people lacking a business rationale for their attendance at the conference?

There is no withholding tax for such low amounts. Wheter or not a
travel stipend is subject to taxation in the recipient's country is
not sth we can affect; it should be zero-sum game (travel expenses are
deductible, stipends may be taxable). In any case, we are talking
about rather small amounts.

But a preferred option for travel stipends (common at conferences I
have attended) would be to have K8 staff in Sevilla and reimburse
attendees directly. So: LGM would check receipts at the event to set
the amount of a "travel stipend", then each recipient of such a travel
stipend signs a receipt, receives the amount of the stipend in cash
and that is all the paperwork we need. No collection of tickets etc.
Only drawback: all of these cash payments would be made in EUR. But
there'd be costs for currency conversion somewhere in the process no
matter whether it's PayPal/bank transfers or cash.
best,

Soenke