Glossary.

A German charitable limited liability "Unternehmergesellschaft" — a small-cap nonprofit corporation.

A gUG is the charity-only variant of the UG, which is itself a low-capital version of Germany's GmbH (GmbH = LLC). It needs only €1 in starting capital but must reinvest profits until it has accumulated the GmbH's standard €25,000. Charitable status is granted separately by the tax office (see § 60a AO).

Source: GmbHG § 5a, AO §§ 51 ff.

The German legal catalog of officially charitable purposes.

Lists 26 purposes that qualify as charitable: science, education, public + vocational training (No. 7), development cooperation (No. 15), nature protection, sport, culture, animal welfare, etc. An organization picks its purposes from this catalog and writes them into its statutes. EmpowerED Africa works on Nos. 7 and 15.

Source: AO § 52 (2)

The administrative confirmation that an organization's statutes meet charitable-status requirements.

With a § 60a notice the tax office confirms that the organization's statutes meet the formal requirements for charitable status. This authorizes issuing tax receipts but is time-limited: receipts based on it are valid for three years (§ 63 (5) AO). After that, an organization needs the more permanent Freistellungsbescheid — the actual tax assessment for charitable corporations.

Source: AO § 60a

The corporate-income-tax assessment for a recognized charitable organization.

Where § 60a only checks the statutes, the Freistellungsbescheid checks how the organization actually used its funds in a given year. It's issued after the first complete fiscal year and gives receipts a 5-year validity (vs. 3 years for § 60a). EmpowerED Africa currently operates under a § 60a notice; the first Freistellungsbescheid is expected in 2027.

Source: AO § 60a, KStG § 5

How long a tax receipt remains accepted by the tax office.

Receipts based on a Freistellungsbescheid are valid for 5 years; receipts based on a § 60a notice for 3 years. If a donor submits a receipt to the tax office after that window has expired, the deduction is no longer accepted. In practice: file the receipt soon — at EmpowerED we generate it automatically once payment is received.

Source: AO § 63 (5)

The main rule in the German Income Tax Act allowing donations to reduce taxable income.

Cash donations to charities are deductible up to 20 % of the donor's "Gesamtbetrag der Einkünfte" (total income figure) per year. Excess amounts roll over via Spendenvortrag indefinitely. Donations into a foundation's endowment have a separate, larger ceiling (€1m over 10 years).

Source: EStG § 10b

Form requirements for a tax receipt to be accepted by the tax office.

Above €300 the receipt must follow the BMF's official template (BMF Anlage 1 for cash donations). Up to €300 a simplified format (Kleinbetragsbescheinigung) suffices. Machine generation is allowed; archive obligation on the recipient side is 10 years.

Source: EStDV § 50

Germany's official tax-deductible-donation receipt — also called Spendenbescheinigung.

Contains: donor + recipient details, amount in figures and in words, date, confirmation of charitable status, and a note on use of funds. Required in the official BMF Anlage 1 format for donations over €300; up to €300 the simplified Kleinbetragsbescheinigung is enough. We send both automatically by email after donation and archive for 10 years (§ 50 EStDV).

Source: EStDV § 50, BMF circulars

Simplified tax-receipt for donations up to €300.

Reduced to the essentials: charity name + address, tax number, § 60a notice date, statement that the donation will be used for tax-privileged purposes. Together with your bank statement it's a complete tax-deductible receipt.

Source: EStDV § 50 (4)

A category of deductible expenses on the German income tax return.

Donations to recognized charities go here ("Anlage Sonderausgaben" in ELSTER). Other Sonderausgaben include church tax, Riester pension contributions, school fees. They reduce the taxable-income figure before the income tax is calculated.

Source: EStG §§ 10–10c

What happens if your donations exceed the 20 % annual cap?

If donations in a given year exceed 20 % of your "Gesamtbetrag der Einkünfte" (total income figure), the surplus isn't lost — it carries forward into future years indefinitely. So unusually large one-off donations (e.g. from an inheritance) remain fully deductible across multiple tax years.

Source: EStG § 10d

A donation in goods rather than cash.

Valued at "gemeiner Wert" (fair market value at the time of donation) — for used items, the realistic resale value, not the original purchase price. The receiving charity records that value on the receipt. We accept IT in-kind donations (laptops, monitors, tablets); please email before delivery.

Source: EStG § 10b (3)

When a volunteer waives a reimbursement claim, that waiver can count as a cash donation.

If a volunteer has a reimbursement claim defined in the charity's bylaws (e.g. travel costs) and waives it, the waiver can be treated like a cash donation. Precondition: the reimbursement claim must exist independently of the donation — otherwise the tax office sees a sham construction and rejects the deduction.

Source: EStG § 10b (3)

Membership fees at recognized charities — sometimes deductible, sometimes not.

At many charities (e.g. promoting science, education, development cooperation) the membership fee is fully deductible like a cash donation. Excluded are clubs whose primary purpose is leisure (sport, social activities, culture without an educational mission). The receipt must explicitly state that the fee is not one of those excluded categories.

Source: EStG § 10b (1)

A charity's assets cannot return to private hands.

A core principle of German charity law: once funds enter a gUG — donations, earned revenue, anything — they stay in the charitable sector. If the corporation is wound up, residual assets go to another charity, never to the founders. This is why hardware deployed at partner schools is structurally secure: it cannot legally end up in private ownership.

Source: AO § 55

Funds must be used promptly and exclusively for the statutes' purposes.

"Promptly" means: by the end of the second calendar year following receipt. Exceptions exist for earmarked reserves (e.g. a multi-year computer-lab construction project), but they need justification. We continuously document which funds went where — the source of truth is the bookkeeping, excerpts appear in the annual activity report.

Source: AO § 55 (1) No. 5

A legal contract giving usage rights without transferring ownership.

We buy the computers; the school uses them. To make sure ownership doesn't transfer (which would violate the asset-binding rule above), we sign a written equipment-use contract with each school. It states: the gUG retains ownership; the school covers operating costs and ensures proper use; if the partnership ends, the equipment returns to the gUG or to another charity it nominates.

Source: BGB §§ 535 ff., AO § 55

Germany's most renowned trust seal for donation organizations.

The Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen (DZI) audits charities for transparency, use of funds, administrative ratio, and advertising practices. The seal costs ~€500/year and requires at least three full fiscal years of track record. We aim to qualify once the prerequisites are met (earliest 2028).

Source: dzi.de