Re: [gentoo-nfp] Questions For Gentoo Foundation Trustee Candidates

[Aaron Bauman]

On Sun, Jul 14, 2019 at 08:53:31PM +0100, Michael Everitt wrote:
> On 14/07/19 20:25, Robin H. Johnson wrote [as excerpted]:
> >
> >>> - Apply to convert from for-profit to non-profit 501(c)(6)
> >> We have discussed this before, a 501c6 does not match our purpose, does not
> >> support charitable donations being tax-exempt for the donator, and we have no
> >> intent of lobbying/supporting politics.
> >>
> >> The 501c6 idea justs needs to go away.
> > The charitable donations only really apply for tax residents of the USA.
> > Very few countries permit cross-border charitable donations like this
> > (Canada for example permits it only if you earn a US income or the
> > recipient is certain universities).
> >
> > For the FY2019 that just closed, as a quick analysis, our paypal gross
> > donations is approximately USD 15400.00. Of that, at least USD 9000 came
> > from non-US sources.
> >
> > Lobbying is a broad definition: encouraging usage of Gentoo can be
> > construed as Lobbying.
> >
> > At a broader level in IRS definitions:
> > 501(c)(3)
> > Operated exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, literary,
> > or scientific purposes
> > 501(c)(6)
> > Operated to promote a common business interest, and to improve business
> > conditions in the industry
> >
> > Is Gentoo Linux a:
> > - charitable purpose: no
> > - educational purpose: no
> > - religious purpose: no
> > - literary purpose: no
> > - scientific purpose: no
> > - common business interest: YES
> >
> > It's on this basis that the IRS has denied 501(c)(3) existence to other
> > organizations who produce "general purpose software". The Open Source
> > Institute HAS written about this before in depth:
> > https://opensource.org/node/840
> >
> > Also please strongly note their closing:
> > "Any FOSS project considering whether to incorporate or to apply for
> > tax-exempt status should seek the advice of an attorney experienced with
> > the laws and regulations applicable to exempt organizations."
> >
> >
> First and foremost, IANAL, etc.
>
> I personally hold an Amateur Radio license, and the purpose for which I am
> entitled to make radio transmissions is stated explicitly as 'educational
> use'. It is to share the knowledge and experience of the technology used,
> and not for broadcast purposes, or any other purposes (including emergency
> use, although the RAYNET organisation likely has some discretion here).
>
> I would argue that Gentoo is used for Educational means .. and I'm sure
> I've seen it documented such, that it is to encourage it's users to learn
> about software and computer systems, and how they may be used. I believe
> that Gentoo is in a relatively unique position amongst distributions, as a
> meta-distribution on which others are based, not to need to emphasise the
> exclusive use of the software within it as it's only application.
>
> I'm honestly not sure that you could even consider that devs actually
> 'lobby' for it's use .. that would tend to imply some organised action, and
> I would still argue that what they were actually doing was simply promoting
> the features of the distribution and not insisting on its use. That is
> certainly my experience from eg. FOSDEM, and I would imagine that is the
> case elsewhere too.
>
> As initially stated, I am certainly not an expert on US or tax laws, but
> that would be my reading of the organisation as it stands today.
>

"lobbying" was simply in refernece to political lobbying which is much more
permissive under a 501c6.

Yes, you are correct, we could easily justify educational as a reason to gain
tax-exempt status.

As I stated in reply to another thread, this can be seen, as a precedent, in
public filings of other Linux distros, umbrellas, etc.


-- 
Cheers,
Aaron