[WikiEN-l] "Taxman denies Wikipedia UK charity status"

[Anthony]

On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 11:28 PM, Gwern Branwen <gwern0 at gmail.com> wrote:

> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/27/wikipedia_charity_not/
>
> "Wiki-fiddling isn't a charitable activity, according to the UK tax
> man. Revenue and Customs is denying tax privileges that go with
> charity status to Wikimedia UK, or Wiki UK Limited, as it's officially
> registered."
>


> Worth noting also is the quiet little redefinition - something isn't
> charitable activity unless it can get tax breaks.


The exact quote from "the UK tax man", which you include later in your
email, is "The production of an encyclopaedia is not the charitable
advancement of education..."

The "quiet little redefinition" took place by us Americans.  Not that
there's anything wrong with that.  We Americans managed to fix a lot of
strange things about the English language, such as their spelling of
"encyclopaedia".