Comments on: Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? http://72miles.com/blog/why-not-an-open-source-tax-deduction/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:25:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mike http://72miles.com/blog/why-not-an-open-source-tax-deduction/comment-page-1/#comment-225 Mike Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:54:13 +0000 http://72miles.com/blog/?p=103#comment-225 Thanks Chris, for linking to that. NewYorkCountryLawyer writes <blockquote> "Assemblymen Jonathan Bing and Micah Kellner, along with a number of co-sponsors, have introduced proposed legislation in New York State which would grant a tax credit to individuals acting as volunteers who develop open source programs. The idea of the credit is to ensure that volunteer developers, who could not otherwise deduct their expenses because they are not part of a 'business,' should nevertheless be able to receive a tax benefit for their contribution. The credit would be for 20% of the expenses incurred, up to $200. The preamble to the bill notes that the New York State Assembly itself currently uses 'Open Source programs such as Mozilla for email, Firefox for web browsing, and WebCal for electronic calendars,' and that these programs have led to significant cost savings to taxpayers. The preamble also cited a 2006 report authored by John Irons and Carl Malamud from the Center for American Progress detailing how Open Source software enhances a broader dissemination of knowledge and ideas." </blockquote><div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('225','Mike'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('225','Mike','Thanks Chris, for linking to that.\n\n NewYorkCountryLawyer writes \n<blockquote>\n\"Assemblymen Jonathan Bing and Micah Kellner, along with a number of co-sponsors, have introduced proposed legislation in New York State which would grant a tax credit to individuals acting as volunteers who develop open source programs. The idea of the credit is to ensure that volunteer developers, who could not otherwise deduct their expenses because they are not part of a \'business,\' should nevertheless be able to receive a tax benefit for their contribution. The credit would be for 20% of the expenses incurred, up to $200. The preamble to the bill notes that the New York State Assembly itself currently uses \'Open Source programs such as Mozilla for email, Firefox for web browsing, and WebCal for electronic calendars,\' and that these programs have led to significant cost savings to taxpayers. The preamble also cited a 2006 report authored by John Irons and Carl Malamud from the Center for American Progress detailing how Open Source software enhances a broader dissemination of knowledge and ideas.\" \n<\/blockquote>'); return false;">Quote</a></div> Thanks Chris, for linking to that.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes

“Assemblymen Jonathan Bing and Micah Kellner, along with a number of co-sponsors, have introduced proposed legislation in New York State which would grant a tax credit to individuals acting as volunteers who develop open source programs. The idea of the credit is to ensure that volunteer developers, who could not otherwise deduct their expenses because they are not part of a ‘business,’ should nevertheless be able to receive a tax benefit for their contribution. The credit would be for 20% of the expenses incurred, up to $200. The preamble to the bill notes that the New York State Assembly itself currently uses ‘Open Source programs such as Mozilla for email, Firefox for web browsing, and WebCal for electronic calendars,’ and that these programs have led to significant cost savings to taxpayers. The preamble also cited a 2006 report authored by John Irons and Carl Malamud from the Center for American Progress detailing how Open Source software enhances a broader dissemination of knowledge and ideas.”

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]]> By: George http://72miles.com/blog/why-not-an-open-source-tax-deduction/comment-page-1/#comment-224 George Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:08:14 +0000 http://72miles.com/blog/?p=103#comment-224 It's a great idea in theory, but nearly impossible to implement in practice. There's no way one can accurately calculate fair market value. Many OS projects only realize their true value to the community many years later. Foundations are a more workable model for rewarding open source contributions by programmers. Rather than having to calculate fair market value, foundations may compensate programmers for their actual effort. Donors are rewarded with tax deductions for their contributions to the foundation. There are many open source foundations today that take advantage of this model. The Free Software Foundation is one of the oldest around, but there's also Linux, Apache, and Mozilla Software Foundations, just to name a few.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('224','George'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('224','George','It\'s a great idea in theory, but nearly impossible to implement in practice. There\'s no way one can accurately calculate fair market value. Many OS projects only realize their true value to the community many years later.\r\n\r\nFoundations are a more workable model for rewarding open source contributions by programmers. Rather than having to calculate fair market value, foundations may compensate programmers for their actual effort. Donors are rewarded with tax deductions for their contributions to the foundation.\r\n\r\nThere are many open source foundations today that take advantage of this model. The Free Software Foundation is one of the oldest around, but there\'s also Linux, Apache, and Mozilla Software Foundations, just to name a few.'); return false;">Quote</a></div> It’s a great idea in theory, but nearly impossible to implement in practice. There’s no way one can accurately calculate fair market value. Many OS projects only realize their true value to the community many years later.

Foundations are a more workable model for rewarding open source contributions by programmers. Rather than having to calculate fair market value, foundations may compensate programmers for their actual effort. Donors are rewarded with tax deductions for their contributions to the foundation.

There are many open source foundations today that take advantage of this model. The Free Software Foundation is one of the oldest around, but there’s also Linux, Apache, and Mozilla Software Foundations, just to name a few.

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]]> By: Chris http://72miles.com/blog/why-not-an-open-source-tax-deduction/comment-page-1/#comment-223 Chris Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:04:54 +0000 http://72miles.com/blog/?p=103#comment-223 Odd that you mention this -- a few days ago there was a Slashdot article on a bill that does exactly what you describe: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A06380<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('223','Chris'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('223','Chris','Odd that you mention this -- a few days ago there was a Slashdot article on a bill that does exactly what you describe:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/assembly.state.ny.us\/leg\/?bn=A06380'); return false;">Quote</a></div> Odd that you mention this — a few days ago there was a Slashdot article on a bill that does exactly what you describe:

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A06380

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]]> By: Recent Links Tagged With "contribution" - JabberTags http://72miles.com/blog/why-not-an-open-source-tax-deduction/comment-page-1/#comment-133 Recent Links Tagged With "contribution" - JabberTags Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:34:41 +0000 http://72miles.com/blog/?p=103#comment-133 [...] public links >> contribution Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? Saved by LUCYinLA on Mon 20-10-2008 Comment on 21st Century Restoration Movement(s) by eddy Saved [...]<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('133','Recent Links Tagged With \"contribution\" - JabberTags'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('133','Recent Links Tagged With \"contribution\" - JabberTags','[...] public links >> contribution Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? Saved by LUCYinLA on Mon 20-10-2008 Comment on 21st Century Restoration Movement(s) by eddy Saved [...]'); return false;">Quote</a></div> [...] public links >> contribution Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? Saved by LUCYinLA on Mon 20-10-2008 Comment on 21st Century Restoration Movement(s) by eddy Saved [...]
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]]> By: Mike http://72miles.com/blog/why-not-an-open-source-tax-deduction/comment-page-1/#comment-116 Mike Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:19:57 +0000 http://72miles.com/blog/?p=103#comment-116 Looks like France beat us to this one... <blockquote>This summer, an economic commission set up by French President Nicolas Sarkozy recommended tax benefits to stimulate even more open source development.</blockquote> Read the rest of the article found at <a href="http://ossspyglass.com/open-source-what-you-should-learn-from-the-french" rel="nofollow">http://ossspyglass.com/</a><div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('116','Mike'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('116','Mike','Looks like France beat us to this one...\r\n\r\n<blockquote>This summer, an economic commission set up by French President Nicolas Sarkozy recommended tax benefits to stimulate even more open source development.<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\nRead the rest of the article found at <a href=\"http:\/\/ossspyglass.com\/open-source-what-you-should-learn-from-the-french\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/ossspyglass.com\/<\/a>'); return false;">Quote</a></div> Looks like France beat us to this one…

This summer, an economic commission set up by French President Nicolas Sarkozy recommended tax benefits to stimulate even more open source development.

Read the rest of the article found at http://ossspyglass.com/

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]]> By: » Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? Software reviews, free software downloads - World of Software http://72miles.com/blog/why-not-an-open-source-tax-deduction/comment-page-1/#comment-114 » Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? Software reviews, free software downloads - World of Software Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:51:37 +0000 http://72miles.com/blog/?p=103#comment-114 [...] news by Mike This entry is filed under The best free software reviews. You can follow any responses to this [...]<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('114','» Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? Software reviews, free software downloads - World of Software'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('114','» Why not an Open Source contribution tax deduction? Software reviews, free software downloads - World of Software','[...] news by Mike This entry is filed under The best free software reviews. You can follow any responses to this [...]'); return false;">Quote</a></div> [...] news by Mike This entry is filed under The best free software reviews. You can follow any responses to this [...]
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