[Foundation-l] [ANNOUNCEMENT] Greenspan illustration project

[George Herbert]

I think you may misunderstand.  The concern is that the WMF will now, for
the first time that I know of (but I could be ignorant), be paying or
purchasing something (good, or services) from members of the community, and
not from a normal vendor or paying an internal employee.

The WMF might be required, under some interpretations of tax law in the US
and how the payments are structured, to get a US IRS tax form (form 1099
probably) for each person it paid for an illustration.  Which is a lot of
administrative and recordkeeping headache and requires things like a social
security number to be provided, etc.

If it's structured so that the foundation is buying the rights to an image,
then that may be outside the contractor / pay for work structure enough to
be safe.  But this is legal / accountant territory.


-george william herbert

On Nov 2, 2007 6:03 PM, GerardM <gerard.meijssen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hoi,
> Indeed. But in all instances, it is none of our business nor of the WMF
> how
> the donor handles it re his taxes. When we accept a gift and spend it
> within
> the limitations associated with that gift, how the WMF pays applicable
> taxes
> is of no concern to either the donor or to the Wikimedia community as it
> is
> part and parcel of spending the money.
>
> It is unlikely that the US tax office will restrict us from spending money
> outside the US and consequently I do not understand at all why it is
> relevant to consider taxes.
> Thanks,
>    GerardM
>
>
> On 11/3/07, Sue Reed <sreed1234 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: GerardM gerard.meijssen at gmail.com
> >
> > Once money has been given to the WMF, the WMF can spend the money where
> it
> > wants. People or organisations may deduct taxes under certain
> conditions.
> > If
> > these conditions are met is none of our business.
> > Thanks,
> >     GerardM
> >
> >
> > That's not actually true. US-based non-profits typically have restricted
> > funds and non-restricted funds. Money given under non-restricted funds
> can
> > be used however the non-profit feels is necessary. However, money
> > specifically given to certain projects must be used for those projects.
> > Reading Cary's email, it looks like this gift was given *specifically*
> for
> > use in creating various illustrations for Wikipedia projects. That is
> the
> > only thing that the money can be used for. IANAL and don't have access
> to
> > the specifics of the grant, but things like employment taxes would
> probably
> > be covered. Most grants require specific accounting back to the people
> > giving the money on how they funds were spent.
> >
> > Sue Anne
> > sreed1234 at yahoo.com
> >
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-- 
-george william herbert
george.herbert at gmail.com