Tax-privileged purposes

If charitable, benevolent or ecclesiastical purposes are pursued, tax exemptions or concessions can be claimed.

Selflessness as a prerequisite for the pursuit of tax-privileged purposes

• The activities may not pursue any commercial interests of the corporation or individual members.
• The statutory purposes may only be pursued altruistically.
• The funds of a non-profit organization may only be used for its own statutory purposes.
• Donations to members and external parties are subject to far-reaching restrictions. Benefits in the form of disproportionate remuneration are not permitted.
• If the corporation is dissolved, the funds must be used for tax-privileged purposes (principle of asset commitment).
• The funds collected must always be used promptly for the purposes set out in the articles of association. The formation of reserves is possible under certain conditions (see below).

General public

In principle, the group of persons benefiting from the funding may not be closed. This means that the group of persons receiving support must not be limited (e.g. only family members).

Exclusivity

It exists if only tax-privileged statutory purposes are pursued. If other tax-privileged purposes are to be pursued that are not specified in the articles of association, an amendment to the articles of association is required.

Immediacy

The tax-privileged purposes must be realized themselves. This is the case if the funds are used directly to realize the statutory purposes. However, auxiliary persons (=natural or legal persons who are (not) tax-privileged) can also be used for this purpose if their activities are to be regarded as the corporation's own activities.

Articles of Association

The non-profit status of the corporate body must be derived from its articles of association. They must be structured in such a way that the purpose of the articles of association and the way in which it is implemented are precisely defined and the exclusive and direct pursuit is also recognizable. The actual management must be geared towards the fulfillment of the articles of association.