The taxation of non-profit organisations in an international comparison

The rules for non-profit organisations and associations in Germany are mostly in accord with those in other EU countries as well as in Japan and the USA. In some areas they are quite liberal, in terms of the tax definition of non-profit characteristic and also regarding the donation-deduction regulations for services provided to non-profit associations and for the indirect promotion of non-profit activities via the lump-sum deduction for leaders of sport groups. These are the conclusions of a new study of the Ifo Institute on the taxation of non-profit organisations in an international comparison that was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Finance. The study documented and compared the tax regulations for non-profits in terms of rules for taxes on income, turnover, inheritances and donations. Strong differences were detected with regard to tax deductions of contributions to non-profit organisations. Also the tax rules on donations and inheritances are quite different. In the country comparison, large agreement was found in terms of the types and recognition principles of non-profit organisations and non-profit associations. For nearly all associations the non-profit character stands in the foreground. The state supports the activities of the associations in all examined countries by declaring their income from non-profit activities to be tax exempt, in general. Also the regulations with regard to turnover tax display large agreement. Non-profit associations are tax exempt in the areas of their stated purposes but are subject to sales tax if their revenue come from business activity.