4 ms·

We ( http://snowtide.com http://snowtide.com ) are sponsoring Clojure, and we'll be able to simply treat it like any other expense. I'm sure we could figure ou

We ( http://snowtide.com http://snowtide.com ) are sponsoring Clojure, and we'll be able to simply treat it like any other expense. I'm sure we could figure out (or, have our accountant figure out) how to get the same benefits if the same amount were being dispersed as a donation to a nonprofit, but I personally like not having to figure that out at this point.

wheels 17y ago
I won't claim to understand the mechanics of such, but I know that there's a notable tax difference between charitable donations and expenses (or perhaps donations can't technically be considered expenses?). It's not such a big deal for e.g. startups, but IBM, HP, et al are much more likely to write a big check (say, $10k) if it's to a 501 (c) 3. I've seen other open source projects jump through these hoops specifically for those reasons. Getting a few of those folks lined up for "The Clojure Foundation" is probably a faster route to being sustainable than $100 at a time.
- cemerick 17y ago
  I don't understand the difference, either, which is why I like the fact that our contribution looks and works just like an expense. For small orgs, certainly, there's only two numbers that matter: revenue and expenses. Figuring out how to set up a third bucket is overhead I'm not interested in now. :-)
  - davidw 17y ago
    That's why you have an accountant. Like wheels says, there are tax benefits, and if you're not taking advantage of them, you are likely wasting your company's money. Or, thinking of it another way, with the non-profit tax stuff, you could give more money to Clojure or whatever else.
  - petercooper 17y ago
    It varies significantly by jurisdiction, but merely giving money to another company/organization/person may not count as an "expense" for deduction purposes. In most Western jurisdictions, you would need to be getting something in return - like consultancy, labor, product, a contractual obligation (as with a retainer), etc. I'd be quite unsure whether the "paying for hours spent working on Clojure" line would fly with all tax authorities - but, yeah, that's why people have accountants :-)
    - Psyonic 17y ago
      Probably taken care of by filing at least one bug. Then the consulting line is easier to accept, as long as that bug was fixed. That said: I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant, so take that with a large dosage of salt

wheels 17y ago

I won't claim to understand the mechanics of such, but I know that there's a notable tax difference between charitable donations and expenses (or perhaps donations can't technically be considered expenses?). It's not such a big deal for e.g. startups, but IBM, HP, et al are much more likely to write a big check (say, $10k) if it's to a 501 (c) 3. I've seen other open source projects jump through these hoops specifically for those reasons. Getting a few of those folks lined up for "The Clojure Foundation" is probably a faster route to being sustainable than $100 at a time.

cemerick 17y ago
I don't understand the difference, either, which is why I like the fact that our contribution looks and works just like an expense. For small orgs, certainly, there's only two numbers that matter: revenue and expenses. Figuring out how to set up a third bucket is overhead I'm not interested in now. :-)
- davidw 17y ago
  That's why you have an accountant. Like wheels says, there are tax benefits, and if you're not taking advantage of them, you are likely wasting your company's money. Or, thinking of it another way, with the non-profit tax stuff, you could give more money to Clojure or whatever else.
- petercooper 17y ago
  It varies significantly by jurisdiction, but merely giving money to another company/organization/person may not count as an "expense" for deduction purposes. In most Western jurisdictions, you would need to be getting something in return - like consultancy, labor, product, a contractual obligation (as with a retainer), etc. I'd be quite unsure whether the "paying for hours spent working on Clojure" line would fly with all tax authorities - but, yeah, that's why people have accountants :-)
  - Psyonic 17y ago
    Probably taken care of by filing at least one bug. Then the consulting line is easier to accept, as long as that bug was fixed. That said: I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant, so take that with a large dosage of salt