Re: [Debconf-team] [Debconf13-localteam] DebConf 13 legal association
On 01/09/12 20:41, Philipp Kern wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 11:21:09AM +0200, Philipp Hug wrote:
>> The budget of dc13 is above the limit where you have to start paying VAT,
>> whereas debian.ch's budget isn't and won't be in the near future.
>
> Why is that? Do you think that it's not eligible to be recognized as a
> charitable non-profit? I'm just interpolating from German law, but for
> non-profit missions you're not able to recover VAT and not obliged to collect
> VAT. Of course that would depend on the association being recognized to be
> charitable…
>
That is only half the story
Non-profits and charities do get a benefit from reclaiming VAT on their
expenses. As you point out, some countries don't allow that. With the
big amount of money for food and accommodation, it would seem worthwhile
for DebConf to try and reclaim 8% of that.
On the other hand, in Australia, I've seen non-profits charging VAT (we
call it GST) on things they sell, while not charging any VAT on donations.
E.g.
membership fee: taxed
advertising in club magazine: taxed
donation: not taxed
If Swiss associations work the same way, then foreign sponsors would
have to pay donations to avoid the tax.
This might work for sponsorship, but for the professional attendance
fees, there is a direct connection to the person taking accommodation,
so it would probably be unreasonable to suggest that they are donations
and they would be charged tax. Once again, it really needs a Swiss tax
expert to clarify such points.
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