[Wikipedia-l] foundation of a German registered association

[Lars Aronsson]

Jimmy Wales wrote:
> I think that the solution is quite simple -- for the Wikimedia
> Foundation to form and control the German subsidiary.  This subsidiary
> will give the ability for Germans to give tax deductible donations,
> will serve as a legal point of contact for any Germany-specific
> concerns, etc.

And on the other hand, German tax laws might require (I don't know)
that the German organization be totally independent under its own
bylaws in order to be registered ("incorporate") and qualify for tax
exemption.  I think I warned against this sort of conflict a year ago.
I strongly recommend that you all look at how the German chapter of
ISOC (which is an "e.V.", see www.isoc.de) has solved this.  I assume
they have a working model already, that could be copied.  In fact, the
ISOC chapter model could be copied for more countries than Germany, if
Wikipedians want to form local chapters in their area.


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se/