Tax-deductible donations probably possible in Belgium

[Jelle Hermsen]

Hi Sam,
You rock! Looks like you're really on to something. Sustainable development ("duurzame ontwikkeling") does sound like the way to go.

Here's the description of the specific category in "Afdeling VI, Artikel 104, WIB 92 (aj. 2011)":

"aan instellingen die zich bezig houden met duurzame ontwikkeling in de zin van de wet van 5 mei 1997 betreffende de coördinatie van het federale beleid inzake duurzame ontwikkeling en die als dusdanig erkend zijn door de Minister van Financiën en de Minister tot wiens bevoegdheid de Duurzame Ontwikkeling behoort of aan gelijkwaardige instellingen uit een andere lidstaat van de Europese Economische Ruimte die op een vergelijkbare wijze zijn erkend"

"Gelijkwaardig" doesn't mean equivalent in this case. It just means that this category also applies to organizations in other member states of the EU that have had similar recognition. 

> I think FSFE can fall in this category. Exerpt from document 52K2238001 
> about the law concerning sustainable development (found at [1]):
I think you are right. 

The document you mentioned is exactly the one that was used to make this categorization and I agree FSFE does fit the bill!

Officially, when you've established that an organization from another member state fits in one of these categories you don't have to request the same status in Belgium. However, I do think it's important we do send in an official request to the Belgian ministry of finance. This way we don't have to hand out a copy of the ANBI (or the German equivalent) to anyone who want's to have tax-deductible donations and on the other hand we can then undoubtedly prove are status in Belgium.

I think this would be the perfect moment for an FSFE-official to chip in and handle the paperwork just like we did with the ANBI in the Netherlands.

All info regarding this paperwork can be found on: http://www.fiscus.fgov.be/interfaoifnl/Vragen/ipp/ipp16.htm
And of course I'm willing to help to clarify and translate which specific documents are necessary.

Cheers,
Jelle

On Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:13:11 +0200, fsfe-bnl-bounces at fsfeurope.org wrote:
> Jelle Hermsen wrote:
> > dat de vereniging of instelling uit een andere 
> > lidstaat gelijkwaardig is aan een in hetzelfde artikel bedoelde 
> > Belgische vereniging of instelling
> 
> Doesn't this mean that the organization must be equivalent to an already 
> existing Belgian organization?
> 
> > #   instellingen die duurzame ontwikkeling ten doel hebben;
> 
> I think FSFE can fall in this category. Exerpt from document 52K2238001 
> about the law concerning sustainable development (found at [1]):
> 
> "duurzame ontwikkeling: die ontwikkeling die voorziet in
> de behoeften van de huidige generatie zonder daarmee voor
> toekomstige generaties de mogelijkheden in het gedrang te
> brengen om ook in hun behoeften te voorzien. Haar verwe-
> zenlijking vergt een veranderingsproces waarin het gebruik
> van hulpbronnen, de bestemming van investeringen, de
> gerichtheid van technologische ontwikkeling en institutionele
> veranderingen worden afgestemd op zowel toekomstige als
> huidige behoeften;"
> 
> In English: sustainable development is development that provides for the 
> needs of the current generation without endangering the potential for 
> future generations to provide for their own needs.
> 
> Striving to make sure that tools and data are and remain free for 
> current and future generations is our ever more digital world seems like 
> promoting sustainable digital development to me.
> 
> [1] 
> http://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/showpage.cfm?sectionlwb&language&rightmenught&cfmite/wwwcfm/flwb/flwbn.cfm?langlegislatR&dossierID"38
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