[arch-general] Why are financial contributions not accepted?

[Seblu]

On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 3:29 PM, Thomas S Hatch <thatch45 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 3:19 AM, Kaiting Chen <kaitocracy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 2:39 AM, Allan McRae <allan at archlinux.org> wrote:
>>
>> > On 01/05/11 15:35, Johannes Held wrote:
>> >
>> >> On 01.05.2011 04:13, Ray Kohler wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> I also have donated in the past, and would do so again if it were made
>> >>> possible.
>> >>>
>> >> What about a normal bank transfer to one of Arch's core maintainers?
>> >>
>> >>
>> > That would have taxation implications for that developer.
>> >
>>
>> At least the US allows for something like $5,000 tax exempt in personal
>> gifts each year. --Kaiting.
>>
>> --
>> Kiwis and Limes: http://kaitocracy.blogspot.com/
>>
>
> I believe the amount was $11,000 for 2010, but I need to check.
>
> This is a serious problem, for a lot of reasons, especially that Arch could
> use some more money :). The server resources are limited, and having more
> resources would be great!
>
> I will check with my accountant as to the best solution for this problem, I
> think that the easiest solution would be legal formation of an entity that
> deferred taxation responsibilities away from guys like Aaron.
>
> I don't think that we need to become a 501(c)3. That can be very expensive
> for an organization like Arch, since it is not blatantly clear that we are a
> non-profit (They hand those out like candy to organizations that
> "help children" for instance, but it took the Linux Kernel Foundation years
> to get it, even though I would argue that Linux definitely helps children).
> But another organization format will almost certainly be cheaper (most legal
> business entities in the USA can be formed for less than $50) and most of
> what 501(c)3 buys you is letting your donors declare the donation to be tax
> exempt.
What about create a association elsewhere in the world where it can be
less expensive?

In France, we have an "association law 1901"
(http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_loi_de_1901) which allow a
no taxes status.

Regards,

-- 
Sébastien Luttringer
www.seblu.net