[Theforum] [survey] donations

Martin martin at members.evolt.org
Tue Dec 18 16:10:20 CST 2001


On Tuesday, December 18, 2001, at 07:55  pm, Erika Meyer wrote:

> Yes, it is easy to get a business account in the US.  I did it, as a 
> freelancer, by saying these words:  "I want to open an account for my 
> business."
>
> Of course, no one could say whether the money that went in and out of 
> that account had anything to do with my business.  I dealt with that by 
> keeping profit & loss records.  The IRS was interested in what my 
> business was doing financially.

Right, so although the bank may not need to see them up front,
proper accounts are needed.

> So yes, if we don't have an account, I imagine we could easily start 
> one.  This would be a Marlene task, wouldn't it?

As it stands, yes.

> Then she'd have to keep records & make them available somehow.

Yes. To the members for one.

> Beyond that, I don't know.  As our org is neither a business nor a 
> nonprofit,

There's probably rules to govern the default, something like
"Unless it's a non-profit, it's a business"

> I have no idea what rules would apply, if any.  Though I may be wrong, 
> it seems to me that governments take an interest when money changes 
> hands.

Always.

> I suppose that with careful record-keeping, a good level of trust could 
> be established amongst members, even without any incorporation process.

But if you're doing all the work of incorporation, why
not get the additional level of trust and protection?

> But I don't know where that money would stand, in a legal sense.

Whoever is registered as the owners of the 'business'
which the account represents. If it's not clear that it's not
their personal cash, we're storing up risk.

Same goes for all evolt's assets btw - domain name, servers,
membership list(s), the lot.

Cheers
Martin
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