A long-term goal of the Alliance is to modernize non-profit law so that associations have more legal certainty in the context of their participation in political decision-making. This is because civil society organizations that regularly express themselves politically are constantly exposed to the risk of losing their non-profit status. The appeal published by the Alliance on July 6, 2015 under the title “Civil society is non-profit” states: “Due to the ambiguous legal situation, the tax authorities have a great deal of room for interpretation. It is impossible for organizations to predict whether and when their political activities will jeopardize their non-profit status. They are dependent on the very different interpretations of their local tax office in practice. This uncertainty is exacerbated by the fact that decisions are only issued ‘subject to review’. If the tax office’s assessment changes, the charitable status can be withdrawn with effect for the last ten years. There is a threat of subsequent taxation of income and liability for donations – and thus additional payments that can amount to many times the annual budget of the respective organization.” One case that became particularly well known last year is the globalization-critical network Attac, which had its non-profit status revoked by the Frankfurt am Main tax office in April 2014. No decision has yet been made on the appeal lodged against this. In addition to Attac and the Humanist Association of Germany, the more than 40 institutions that are members of the “Legal certainty for political decision-making” alliance include the human rights organizations Amnesty International, the aid and development organization Oxfam, the women’s rights organization Terre des Femmes, the consumer protection organization Foodwatch and the Protestant aid organization Bread for the World. Together, they are calling for changes to the German Fiscal Code (AO) to ensure the non-profit status of civil society organizations that contribute to political decision-making. The law has so far failed to mention important and generally recognized charitable purposes, for example the commitment to the protection of fundamental and human rights, social justice, informational self-determination or gender equality and all sexual identities. Frieder Otto Wolf, President of the Humanist Association of Germany, said on Thursday in Berlin about the decision to support the Alliance: “The fact that citizens can join together to actively participate in political and pluralistic decision-making in the interests of the general public, even outside of political parties, is a constitutive right for a modern civil society. Without this right, modern civil society can only function to a limited extent and, of course, legal certainty is an essential basis for the work of organizations active in this field. We therefore need a modernization of non-profit law that puts an end to the untenable state of uncertainty in the existing legal framework. Our laws must finally be brought up to date so that associations can actively participate in political decision-making without risking their non-profit status.”
Further information
