Hi all,
The next board meeting is this evening; Tuesday 26 May 2009,
8.30-10.30pm BST, in the #wikimedia-uk-board channel on
irc.freenode.net, with discussion in #wikimedia-uk. Everyone is more
than welcome to attend.
The draft agenda is at:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetings/2009-05-26/Agenda
Board members: please confirm whether you'll be present or not on the
agenda page.
Thanks,
Mike Peel
Dear All,
Yesterday we received a letter from the UK Tax Authorities rejecting our application for recognition as a charity. Citing a legal precedent, they stated that "the production of an encyclopaedia is not the charitable advancement of education" and therefore we were not established for exclusively charitable purposes. The ruling they gave stated that "If the object be the mere increase of knowledge it is not in itself a charitable object unless it is combined with teaching or education".
The full letter from the HMRC is copied below with some explanatory notes added in { }
Their objection goes to the heart of what we have been established to do. On the surface, it does not appear that any different wording in our constitution or correspondence would have given us a different outcome. Nonetheless, the legal issues may be arguable - our job is not just to produce content in isolation, but also to spread that knowledge and make it accessible to all. I should imagine this will come down to the finer points of law, and it is probably best to engage a lawyer at this stage when we appeal.
If we had applied to the Charity Commission before HMRC the application would have been considered by different lawyers but the same law would apply. Therefore, it is likely that we would have come up against the same problem.
I'm contacting the Foundation to ask them if they are aware of any lawyers familiar with UK law who could help us pro-bono on this.
I'm also sending a note to our MP to thank him for his help in speeding this up: although it is disappointed to get this response, it is better to get it now that in 3 or 6 months' time.
In the meantime, we should probably stop referring to ourselves as a "charity" or an "exempt charity". Before receiving this letter it was reasonable for us to do this as that was our honest view. Now we know there is some disagreement over this, I suggest we should describe ourselves as a "not-for-profit" instead. Whilst we can still get Gift Aid declarations (HMRC have previously confirmed this was ok) we should probably add a caveat on the form explaining that our charitable status is contested.
Regards,
Andrew Turvey
Secretary, Wikimedia UK
=========================
Company Secretary
Wikimedia UK
23 Cartwright Way
Beeston
Nottingham NG9 1RL
Date: 17 April 2009
Dear Mr Turvey,
Wiki UK Limited (operating name Wikimedia UK)
Thank you for your letter of 4 March 2009 and enclosures. I am sorry for the delay in replying.
I am aware that you have written to Nick Palmer MP {regarding delays in responding} - a reply to that letter will be sent separately to Nick Palmer MP.
The definition of a charitable company for tax purposes is contained at Section 506(1) Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 which states " 'charitable company' means any body of persons established for charitable purposes only". However, the determination of charitable status is a matter of general law.
To be a charity in law it is not sufficient that a company's activities or intended activities are charitable. The memorandum and articles of association of the company must declare objects that are charitable in law and be otherwise in acceptable charitable form so that the company could only carry out charitable activities.
The objects of Wiki UK Ltd are stated at clause 3 of its memorandum of association:
"The charity's Object is to aid and encourage people to collect, develop and effectively disseminate knowledge and other educational, cultural and historic content in the public domain or under a license that allows everyone to freely use, distribute and modify content, by means including (but not limited to):
[9 ways are them listed - for example 'acting as a voice and representative for the community of UK residents and citizens who use and edit such repositories'] "
In your letters of 23 November 2008 and 4 March 2009 you state that the primary purpose of setting up the company is to support the 'Wikipedia' website. {We actually said " support the “Wikipedia” website and the other projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, in ways that are compatible with UK charity law"}
The stated objects are not charitable in law. The production of an encyclopaedia is not the charitable advancement of of education and has not been accepted as such in law. In Re Shaw [1957] 1 WLR 729 Mr Justice Harman said "If the object be the mere increase of knowledge it is not in itself a charitable object unless it is combined with teaching or education". Nor is the support the Wikipedia, the stated primary purpose of Wiki UK Ltd, a charitable purpose.
Wiki UK Ltd is not established for charitable purposes only as required by the legislation and so is not a charity for tax purposes. The charity tax examptions and reliefs (including Gift Aid tax relief) are not, therefore, available to Wiki UK Ltd.
To help us improve customer service, please quote our reference number and provide a daytime telephone number in any correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Higher Officer, Technical
We have recently been approached by a company asking for someone to be video interviewed on the subject of how Wikipedia can be used in universities.
The company is a spin off from Imperial College in London and is partly public owned and partly privately owned. They are currently preparing courses in new technology, which are expected to be used by over 100 higher education institutions around the world.
The interview will take place in London one day in the next two weeks. The interview will last about 30 minutes and will be cut down to around 5-10 minutes. They are willing to pay travel costs if necessary. Exact details of the interview questions are still being worked out.
This is an excellent opportunity for Wikimedia UK to promote use of the projects in higher education.
We're looking for a volunteer who is familiar with the workings of Wikipedia and is willing to be interviewed. If you are interested in doing this for us or would like to discuss it further please drop me a line or ring me on 07754 881 562.
Regards,
Andrew
Not very exciting I'm afraid! I've typed in the response I received below. The abridged version:
* They admit that the HMRC Charities Unit are well behind their response targets
* The cause is the changes to the income tax rates plus an increase in applications
* They have trained more staff and changed their computer system to cope with the backlog and improved their advice to applicants
regards,
Andrew Turvey
Secretary,
Wikimedia UK
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited.
Wiki UK Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827.
The Registered Office is at 23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham, NG9 1RL, United Kingdom.
=====
18 May
Dear Mr Turvey,
Please find enclosed a response received from the Minister at the Treasury regarding the questions you raised about Gift Aid.
I hope the reply is of assistance but if you have further questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact Nick's office again.
Yours sincerely,
Parliamentary Assistant to Nick Palmer MP
====
From: Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
11 May
Dear Nick,
Thank you for your letter of 25 March to Alistair Darling enclosing correspondence from your constituent, Andrew Turvey, Secretary of Wiki UK Limited of 23 Cartwright Way, Beeston, Nottingham, about Gift Aid. I have been asked to reply
I am sorry that Mr Turvey experienced delays in receiving a response from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to his enquiries.
As you may know, organisations not already registered with the Charity Commission must apply to HMRC for recognition as a charity for tax purposes. In 2008-09, HMRC aimed to respond to 85% of these applications within 15 (working) days, 95% within 40 days and the balance within 60. The number of new applications increased by 19% in 2008-09, and this increased workload was a factor in HMRC not meeting its 15 day target. However, HMRC did consider 98% of applications within 40 days and 100% within 60 working days. A response to the application from Wikimedia Ltd (sic), asking for further information to support the application, was issued after 51 days.
HMRC is working on improvements to make the application process easier, to help organisations to get it right first time and so reduce the number of applications needing enquiries. This will, in turn, reduce the waiting time for new applicants.
Mr. Turvey says that it is taking HMRC six weeks to process Gift Aid repayment claims. HMRC aims to repay 97% of complete and correct claims within 15 days and first claims within 25 days. For 2008-09 a little over 50% of claims were repaid within 15 days. This delay has been caused by a greater than usual number of incorrect claims following the change to the basic rate of tax and the introduction of the Transitional Relief. HMRC hopes to resume its normal target now that additional staff have been trained and changes to the repayments computer application have been made.
I understand that HMRC has recently written to Mr Turvey about his application.
Please pass on my thanks to Mr Turvey for taking the trouble to raise his concerns about this with us.
Yours ever,
Steven
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Bimmler" <mbimmler(a)gmail.com>
To: "Andrew Turvey" <raturvey(a)yahoo.co.uk>, wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Friday, 22 May, 2009 17:23:30 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Minutes of the last meeting
On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 1:21 AM, Andrew Turvey <raturvey(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> AT reported two items of correspondence:
>
> # A letter from our MP, with a response from the minister responsible
> regarding the HMRC delays.
>
Any chance that this letter or at least a summary will be made public,
at least amongst members?
Thanks,
M.
--
Michael Bimmler
mbimmler(a)gmail.com
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Another goalpost is moving,,,,
Gordo
>
>Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 10:25:47 -0700
>From: Michael Snow <wikipedia(a)verizon.net>
>To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>Subject: [Foundation-l] Licensing resolution
>X-BeenThere: foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
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>
>In light of the vote results announced regarding the proposed licensing
>update, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees has unanimously
>passed the following resolution:
>
>Resolved that:
>
>Whereas the Wikimedia community, in a project-wide vote, has expressed
>very strong support for changing the licensing terms of Wikimedia sites,
>and whereas the Board of Trustees has previously adopted a license
>update resolution requesting that such a change be made possible, the
>Board hereby declares its intent to implement these changes.
>Accordingly, the Wikimedia Foundation exercises its option under Version
>1.3 of the GNU Free Documentation License to relicense the Wikimedia
>sites as Massive Multiauthor Collaborations under the Creative Commons
>Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license, effective June 15, 2009. The Board
>of Trustees hereby instructs the Executive Director to have all
>Wikimedia licensing terms updated and terms of use implemented
>consistent with the proposal at
>http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Licensing_update
>
>--Michael Snow
>
--
"Think Feynman"/////////
http://pobox.com/~gordo/
gordon.joly(a)pobox.com///
Hi all,
In response to the new chapter's agreement (http://uk.wikimedia.org/
wiki/Chapter_Agreement_Revision), the chapters have formed a
"Chapters Agreement Committee" to coordinate the chapter's responses.
This committee includes our own Andrew Turvey. They have asked us for
our views on the agreement in the form of several open questions;
I've started a draft of our response at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/
Chapter_Agreement_Revision/Response .
If you have any views or suggestions about the agreement, please
leave comments on the talk page, or feel free to edit the draft
response itself. I hope that a complete response can be written
before the next board meeting (this coming Tuesday) so that we can
approve it then and get it sent off.
Thanks,
Mike Peel
Please find the email below for your information in case you haven't heard the news elsewhere.
Wikimedia UK took part in these discussions with the other chapters that resulted in the selection of Arne Klempert and Michael Snow as the two "chapter-selected" Board members of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Regards
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jan-Bart de Vreede <janbart(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Fri, May 22, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Subject: [Foundation-l] Announcement: Chapter Selected Board Seats
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hello Everyone,
As you may recall the board was restructured last year around this
time. At that time we asked the chapters to select two board members
for the board. This would happen in the even-numbered years. The three
community seats would be elected in the odd-numbered years.
As was to be expected it took the chapters a while to come to a
procedure and selection the first time around. Unfortunately this
could have had the result that 2009 would have been the year in which
both the elected board members and the chapter selected board members
were changed/added to the board. In the interest of continuity the
board asked the chapters to consider selecting one current board
member for one of the two chapter selected seats this time around. I
am happy to inform you that not only did they agree to this, they have
also found an excellent addition to the board for the other seat.
The chapters have provided the board with the following statement and
the board has been happy to approve their selections.
“Chapters Statement
In April 2008, the Wikimedia Foundation gave the chapters a role in
the board member selection process, by asking them to select
candidates to fill two of the Trustees seats.
The Wikimedia chapters have selected Arne Klempert as a new candidate.
In agreement with the board, they have decided to propose Michael Snow
as their second candidate, with the intent of confirming his position
on the Board of Trustees as occupying one of the chapters selected
Board seats. The chapters are glad that both candidates have accepted
their selection and hope that the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia
Foundation will be able to formalize this as soon as possible. The
selection of those candidates comes after many heated but fruitful
discussions and represents the chapters' will to introduce novelty and
ensure continuity in the board of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Arne Klempert is Head of Digital Communications at IFOK, a German
consulting firm. He is one of the founders of the German chapter. He
was involved in the development of Wikimedia Deutschland first as vice-
chair and then as Executive Director, until September 2008.
Michael Snow has served on the Board of the Wikimedia Foundation since
December 2007, and was chosen in July 2008 to be its chair. Michael is
a lawyer and has been involved in Wikimedia for many years as Head of
the Wikimedia Communications Committee and creator of the Wikipedia
Signpost, amongst other roles.
The chapters are confident that this selection brings quality,
diversity and stability to the board of the Wikimedia Foundation, and
that both candidates will capably handle the responsibilities of being
Trustees. Both candidates are selected to fill a term that ends in
July 2010.
”
Please join me in welcoming Arne to the board and congratulating
Michael on his re-appointment. On behalf of the board I would like to
thank all those involved in facilitating the process and making these
appointments possible.
Jan-Bart de Vreede
Vice Chair Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
If anyone happens to be in the Netherlands in June, you might be interested in this...
Given our proposed "London Loves Wikipedia" event [1] it might be a good idea to get one of us along to the September event.
Regards,
[1] http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Initiatives/Proposals#London_Loves_Wikipedia
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Hay (Husky)" <huskyr(a)gmail.com>
To: "Local Chapters, board and officers coordination (closed subscription)" <internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, chapters(a)wikimedia.ch
Sent: Sunday, 24 May, 2009 22:59:27 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: [Internal-l] Announcing Wiki loves art Netherlands
Hello everyone,
here's an update on the Dutch Wiki loves art (WLA) project. This event
was inspired by previous comparable projects (Wikipedia loves art) in
the US and Australia (from which we also had some handy tips, thanks
Liam!)
The Dutch version of WL A will be organized by Wikimedia Nederland and
Creative Commons Nederland, with support from the Museumnight
Foundation, Digital Heritage Netherlands and ISP XS4ALL.
We had a kickoff event at the end of April, and tomorrow the first
press release will go to the press in which we can happily announce
that we have 31 museums participating all over the country, including
some high profile names such as Boijmans van Beuningen (Rotterdam),
Gemeentemuseum (Den Haag) and the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam).
The event will take place during the whole month of June. People do
not need to subscribe themselves before going to the museum, except
for special events like guided tours. Subscription to these events
will be handled by the museums themselves.
After people have taken pictures at the museums, they can upload them
to a WLA group created on Flickr. Photographs have to comply to a few
rules to get their pictures in the Flickr group. These rules will
include a few things about the quality of the pictures. Photographs
should be licensed CC-BY or CC-BY-SA, where the latter is preferred.
Attached to the events in June is a competition where a professional
jury will select ten winning photographs. The winner of the
competition will get a nice price, including 500 euros to spend on
photographic equipment.
People who want to participate in the competition need to submit their
photographs to the WLA group on Flickr. Winners will be announced at
an event in the beginning of september, so the jury has July and
August to select a winner. In those two months all the pictures will
also be transferred to Wikimedia Commons. Museums will get the chance
to add extra metadata to the pictures before they are uploaded on
Commons.
On the 21st of June a large event will take place at the Boijmans van
Beuningen museum in Rotterdam. This event will be sponsored by XS4ALL
and we have room for around 350 people. We hope this event will get
people talking to each other about other new projects.
I hope this answers a few questions some of you might have. Of course,
comments and critique are still welcome, but because the event will
start in one week we might not be able to change a lot. Of course, if
you happen to be in the Netherlands in June, please visit a few
museums and take some pictures! Or if you're not in Holland then you
can still help by including the photographs from Commons in your
favorite articles.
Regards,
– Hay
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