[Debconf-team] DebConf 15 Legal Entity
Hi,
As has been done in the past for various DebConfs, the DebConf15 team
intends to create a non-profit association to be the legal entity that
would receive money, sign contracts, and manage liability in general.
After a lot of deliberation, we consider the best legal entity for
this situation to be a so-called "eingetragener Verein" (a registered
association forming a legal body, controlled by its members and
represented by the elected board of directors, abbreviated "e.V.").
Our complete analysis can be found here:
https://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf15/Germany/LegalEntity
This type of entity requires 7 members or more for it's foundation,
from which 3 or more need to be elected as board members. If
everything is in place and agreed upon, we would like for it to get
founded during the May 3rd meeting in Heidelberg, which will have more
than enough attendees. Most of the groundwork has been done, we are
now in the process of finishing up the last details.
The trickiest part of creating the association is to have a "purpose"
that will be accepted as non-profit by the tax authorities. If we do
not attain non-profit status, it would mean that we would need to pay
corporate and sales taxes (~ 30 %), and donations we received wouldn't
be tax deductible on the side of the donor. Since we *are* non-profit,
this ought to be avoided. We are already working with a lawyer in
order to get this right, we are hopeful that this will succeed in the
upcoming weeks.
During its non-profit existence, the association would be free to use
its funds according to its purpose. If in the future the association
loses the non-profit status or it's shut down, any remaining money
shall be transferred to FFIS e.V., which manages Debian's funds in
Germany already.
The reason why we are not using FFIS for this in the first place is to
facilitate decision-making and agility; the venue is in Heidelberg,
many of us in Munich, but FFIS is in Oldenburg. Regardless of
location, we would also need active involvement from FFIS board in
DebConf 15 organization, which we don't have.
There would be no liability for Debian (as the association is a
separate entity). Furthermore, we plan to employ external insurance in
order to reduce the liability of the organising team, as nobody is
able to assume personal liability for the event.
A draft of the current foundational document of the association
("bylaws") is in git (debconf-data/dc15/verein/Vereinssatzung.tex)
[in German :-/, since it's required for a German legal entity]. If you
understand German and German law, you are welcome to review it and
raise any concerns that you might have.
For everyone else, we would also like to hear your concerns, should
there be any. Although we might not be able to take all things into
account, as we are bound by requirements of German law and the tax
authorities, we would like to avoid any problems that have already
arisen in the past.
--
Thanks
Margarita Manterola
On behalf of DebConf15 team
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