How to achieve tax-deductable donations in Belgium

Thu Feb 16 10:42:16 CET 2012

Hiya everybody,

It's been a while since Sam Geeraerts and I were trying to find out how to
get the tax-deductible donations up and running in Belgium. Thanks to Sams
great idea that we need to present Free Software in the light of
sustainable development we have a real chance of success.
Anyway, "all" that was left was the paperwork and finally I've looked it
all up and written everything down. So you can just follow these steps.

This e-mail is twofold (well threefold actually, if you take this lame
intro into account). In the first, boring and practical part I'll explain
exactly what we (and actually I probably mean Reinhard :) will need to do
to get all the paperwork at the right place. In the second part I'll
explain the reasoning why the FSFE deserves to have tax-deductible
donations in Belgium.

=================================
To request tax-deductible donations to the FSFE in Belgium you'll have to
follow these easy steps:

Write a letter to this address:
Minister van Financiën
Wetstraat 12
1000 Brussel
Belgium

There isn't an easy default form you can fill out, so you'll have to write
your own attached letter in which you request the tax-exemption for
donations. At the end of this e-mail I will explain the specific reasoning
why the rules for charitable donations apply to the FSFE.

You'll have to attach the following documents in threefold:

- a copy of the statutes and documents regarding the appointment or post
termination of the:
  * directors
  * the executives
  * the representatives
  * the commissioners
  And all potential changes that are supplied to the chamber of commerce.
Operation reports, events calendars, publications, programs..etcetera
[yes, it does say etcetera, so they probably mean all the meaningful
paperwork]

- certified copies, dated and signed by a legally empowered person of:
  * the account of receipts and expenses of the last completed financial year
  * the current financial years budget

They recommend making clear which parts of the budget are costs for the
general management of the organization. This probably makes their work
more easy, and we don't want to annoy them now do we :)

- You should also attach a so called "declaration of commitment". They are
quite particular about the specific wording so I suggest attaching and
signing the following Dutch version. I've put a translation below it, so
you actually know what you're signing.

----------------------- cut here -----------------------------------
De Free Software Foundation Europe
verbindt er zich toe:

    a) tot het dekken van de kosten van algemeen beheer geen hoger
    bedrag te zullen besteden dan 20 pct. van haar bestaansmiddelen
    van alle aard, vooraf verminderd met die welke voortkomen van
    andere erkende instellingen;

    b) aan de schenkers een ontvangstbewijs uit te reiken waarvan het
    model door de Minister van Financiën of zijn gedelegeerde wordt
    vastgesteld, en aan de administratie bevoegd voor de vestiging van
    de belasting binnen 2 maanden na het einde van ieder kalenderjaar
    van de periode waarvoor de erkenning is toegestaan, langs
    elektronische weg een afschrift van de tijdens dat jaar
    uitgereikte ontvangstbewijzen en een verzamelstaat of –attest
    daarvan te bezorgen overeenkomstig de modaliteiten bepaald door de
    Minister van Financiën of zijn gedelegeerde;

    c) de ambtenaren van de administratie bevoegd voor de vestiging
    van de belasting toe te staan haar boekhouding te controleren
    telkens als zij dat nuttig achten;

    d) aan de diensten die worden aangewezen door de voor de erkenning
    bevoegde organen van de Staat, van de Gewesten of van de
    Gemeenschappen, binnen een maand na het eerste verzoek van die
    diensten, alle inlichtingen te verstrekken die voor het onderzoek
    van de aanvraag om erkenning nuttig zijn.
----------------------- cut here -----------------------------------

And the translation:

---
The Free Software Foundation Europe commits to:
    a) spending no more than 20 percent of its means of subsistence of any
kind to cover the costs for the general management, in advance
compensated for subsistence that comes from other recognized
organizations

    b) giving a receipt to the donors. This receipt will be based on the
model that is determined by the Minister of Finance, or his delegate. 
Within 2 months after the end of each year of the period for which the
recognition is authorized, the Minister of Finance or his delegate
will receive, by electronic means, a copy of receipts and a summary
statement or certificate in order to establish the taxes.

    c) allowing the officials of the administration responsible for the
establishment of the taxes to verify its accounts whenever they deem
appropriate;

    d) supplying any information, that is necessary for the investigation
of the request for recognition, within a month of the first request to
the authorized parts of the State, the regions or municipalities.
---

It was a bit of a puzzle to translate it, but the translation covers it as
precise as possible. To be extra clear: They used the word "erkenning",
which I translated as "recognition". They mean recognition as a charitable
organization, so whenever you see "recognized", or "recognition", it means
the recognition as a charitable organization and consecutive approval of
the tax-deductible donations.

==================
And now the reasoning why we deserve to have tax-deductible donations. In
contrary to the rules and regulations in the Netherlands, Belgium has
quite a strict (or some would say: well-defined) policy on which
organizations are eligible for a charitable status. This means that your
specific organization has to fit one of the relatively narrow categories
they have set up. We have discussed these categories before, and if you're
interested, check them out at:
http://www.fiscus.fgov.be/interfaoifnl/Vragen/ipp/ipp16.htm

Anyway, I thought it looked quite grim and didn't see much room for a
category we would fit in. Fortunately the superior logic and reasoning of
Sam Geeraerts saved the day. He argued that we do indeed fit in the
category of organizations that make sustainable development their goal.
You could very well argue that Free Software and Open Standards are in
fact technological sustainable development.
So the last couple of days I dove into the laws, and the specific
background of "our" category to see if Sams reasoning does apply and
doesn't stretch the boundaries too much. I have found out the reasoning
holds beautifully and I'll explain why.

First I looked up what the specific law literally says (and not just the
website describing it), I found it here:
http://ccff02.minfin.fgov.be/KMWeb/document.do?method=view&id=d196db63-36ad-48c5-875d-971e272f4448#findHighlighted
They specifically mention organizations that perform similar tasks in the
European Economic Space, so that includes us. To know for sure we fit the
bill, I had to see what the Belgium government really means when they say
sustainable development (or "duurzame ontwikkeling" in Dutch). Regarding
the category for charitable organizations they specifically mentioned the
specific Law that was established on May 5 1997, and there we find their
definition, which appears to be derived from the United Nations Brundtland
report from August 4 1987 ( 
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Brundtland_Report ). This is great news,
because that report has a very broad definition of sustainable
development. And the Belgian government has also been so kind as to
literally mention technological development in their derived definition:

"" Art. 2.Voor de toepassing van deze wet, wordt begrepen onder : 1° [1
  duurzame ontwikkeling : de 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 verwezenlijking vergt een veranderingsproces
  waarin het gebruik van hulpbronnen, de bestemming van investeringen,
  de gerichtheid van technologische ontwikkeling en institutionele
  structuren worden afgestemd op zowel toekomstige als huidige
  behoeften;]" (Source:
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/loi_a1.pl?imgcn.x=42&imgcn.y=11&DETAIL=1997050535%2FN&caller=list&row_id=1&numero=1&rech=1&cn=1997050535&table_name=wet&nm=1997021155&la=N&dt=WET&language=nl&choix1=EN&choix2=EN&fromtab=wet_all&nl=n&trier=afkondiging&chercher=t&ddda=1997&sql=dt+contains++%27WET%27+and+dd+%3D+date%271997-05-05%27and+actif+%3D+%27Y%27&tri=dd+AS+RANK+&dddj=05&dddm=05
)

Here they say that it applies to adapting the use of resources, targets of
investments, orientation of technological development and institutional
structures to both current and future needs.
Adapting technological development to current and future needs is exactly
what we're doing with Free Software. We develop software, standards and
solutions that can be shared by everybody and a fundamental part of this
sharing is that its value remains in the future. It prevents duplication
of effort on many levels and can provide a technological foundation for
other non-technological efforts in sustainable development. I could
probably go on for hours explaining why Free Software could serve as a
poster boy for sustainable development, but I reckon you understand what I
mean :).

Since 1.1.2009 Belgian tax payers can get tax-deduction on their donations
to other countries in the European Economic Space. This specific space is
defined as (in Dutch):" België; Bulgarije; Cyprus; Denemarken; Duitsland;
Estland;
Finland; Frankrijk; Griekenland; Hongarije; Ierland; Italië; IJsland;
Letland; Liechtenstein; Litouwen; Luxemburg; Malta; Nederland;
Noorwegen;Oostenrijk; Polen; Portugal; Roemenië; Slovenië; Slowakije;
Spanje; Tsjechische Republiek; Verenigd Koninkrijk; Zweden."
And that does include Germany.

There's a minimum donation amount of 40 euros per year for Belgian
donations to qualify for tax-deduction, and when we've set it up I can
provide the text for a web page in which we describe how Belgians can use
their right for tax-deduction.

If you think it's better to do all the paperwork in Dutch, (especially the
attached letter), I am willing to translate.

When everything works out, we'll probably get our charitable status for 2
years. After that the paperwork has to be submitted again for a new
review. Regarding the statutes, you'll only have to submit the changes.

If there are any questions, please shoot!

Cheers,
Jelle

-- 
Document Freedom Day - Liberate your documents
http://documentfreedom.org/ - March 28th 2012