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Percentage Philanthropy Project: Project news
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News from Romania
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Archive:
Presentations about the Hungarian 1% Law and the Percentage Philanthropy Project
in 2004
Presentations about the Hungarian 1% Law and the Percentage Philanthropy Project
in 2003
November 2007
Project news: The Percentage Philanthropy Research is concluded
Further information can be found under The Research menu point.
March 2006
Project news: Changes in the working mechanism of the 1% Law
The Percentage Philanthropy Study has provided valuable insight into the percentage
laws, their mechanism, lobby process and evolution, communication strategies in
Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, in the beginning of 2004. There
are continuous changes in the mechanisms, of which knowledge is important both for
the involved countries and those which are planning them.
After two years, we made an overview about the changes in the working mechanism of
the law in the above mentioned countries (with the exception of Romania, where we
present the working mechanism for the first time, not only the changes), and the
lobby process of achieving the changes.
The amendments can be found among the study chapters, inserted to the original chapters.
March 2006
Project news: Communication toolkit (Running effective percentage campaigns)
In the last years many countries from CEE have introduced mechanisms that allow
citizens to decide with regards to 1% or 2% of their taxes that can be thus directed
to support nonprofit organizations. Campaigning for 1% or 2% allocation has become
a yearly effort for some of the nonprofits located in the region, while the length
of experience differs from one country to another. Percentage giving does not engage
a transfer of resources from citizens to nonprofits (rather from governments to
nonprofits), but it involves a decision of tax-payers (in most cases individual
tax payers).
Thus, in the last few years, nonprofits from Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia
and Romania have engaged two types of campaigns:
- A general awareness campaign with the aim to inform possible contributors on the
existence of the percentage opportunity, existing mechanisms to allocate the percentage
as well as the importance of giving.
- Fundraising campaigns run by nonprofits with the aim to convince tax payers to
direct their support towards their organization.
While there are differences in the aim and motivation of engaging in the two types
of campaigns listed above, many times these campaigns may be targeted at similar
categories of public or use similar methods and channels for making sure the message
reaches the audience.
There is toolkit made in the framework of the Percentage Philanthropy Project, which
presents some of the experiences of the nonprofits in the region who have been
involved in these types of campaigns. It also seeks to provide practical information
and useful suggestions for all those who are interested to do so in the future. We have
tried to balance information from all countries, however different sections might
present examples only from some of the countries, based on information available and
best power to illustrate certain sections in a short and concise manner. Hope it
will be useful and will support you in building more effective campaigns. Enjoy!
ARC Romania and NIOK
Running effective percentage campaigns
April 2005
Project News: "Percentage laws" and their impact
The article is written by Junko Chano, Acting Director of The Sasakawa Central Europe Fund.
The article was published in No. 44, Fiscal Year 2004, Vol.4 issue of SPF newsletter.
October 2004
Project News: Percentage Philanthropy Workshop
Nonprofit Information and Training Centre Foundation
PHASE II
Supporters: Sasakawa Peace Foundation, OSI-LGI
October 16-20, 2004
Budapest, Hungary
Purpose
This workshop focused on the second phase of the percentage philanthropy project. This
phase provides assistance for new countries in introducing percentage laws. This
includes: the actual preparation of national policy papers and feasibility studies;
the provision by email of reading materials dealing with policy paper methodology;
the fine-tuning of existing legislative philanthropy drafts; and the provision of
'on-call' expert advice and assistance to countries, including those not in the main
focus of the programme.
This workshop served as a catalyst for composing professional, effective national policy
papers in Georgia, Macedonia and Ukraine, three SEE and NIS countries planning to introduce
percentage systems. Such papers (a) encourage private philanthropy, (b) address the
realities of implementing a percentage tax law in specific countries and (c) serve as
advocacy tools to benefit the civil sector.
Additional representatives from Eastern and Central European countries participated in the
policy paper writing workshop.
The training utilized the skills and knowledge of a pool of international experts, some of
whom already had strong links and established working relationships with the participants.
While NIOK and its partners acknowledge that philanthropy via tax legislation is clearly not
the only method of raising public support for civil sector organisations, it is, we believe
a logical and effective starting point in emerging the above countries economies. The process
encourages greater public-civil sector collaboration and an effectively promoted system
impacts the awareness and attitude of the general public with regards to supporting NGOs.
The purpose of this training workshop was not to promote percentage philanthropy per se,
although the primary beneficiaries were individuals and organisations already involved in
NIOK's percentage philanthropy group. Within the context of this project, we see "percentage
philanthropy" as an effective framework for further policy research and study and for the
desired development of in-country expertise on the methodology and elements of producing
strong, effective policy papers.
Participant Information
- 17 representatives of CEE, SEE and NIS countries participated in the conference.
- 100% of the participants attended the entire conference.
- Participants accomodated at Hotel Hold, 1054 Budapest, Hold u. 5. www.hotelhold.hu
- Participants included:
- Borce Smilevski --- Macedonia
- Dejan Dojcinovic --- Serbia and Montenegro
- Horia Terpe --- Romania
- Ivan Tavadze --- Georgia
- Jana Kadlecova --- Slovakia
- Jelena Reimann --- Estonia
- Junko Chano --- Japan
- Kuba Wygnanski --- Poland
- Mirza Djelmo --- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Monika Granja --- Czech Republic
- Natalia Shakhmatova --- Russia
- Nenad Novakovic --- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Olena Semenova --- Ukraine
- Stevo Muk --- Serbia and Montenegro
- Svitlana Kuts --- Ukraine
- Undral Gombodorj --- Mongolia
- Vaidotas Ilgius --- Lithuania
*For complete participant contact information and title description,
please visit www.onepercent.hu
Conference Presentors
Hereinafter, the title "conference" will refer to the entire four-day workshop whereas the
title "workshop" will refer to the two-day policy paper writing workshop that took place the
last two days.
- Countries already having introduced Percentage Philanthropy:
- Hungary: Balazs Gerencser (NIOK, Budapest)
- Lithuania: Vaidotas Ilgius (NISC, Vilnius)
- Poland: Jakub Wygnanski (Klon, Warsaw)
- Romania: Horia Terpe (Liberal Party, Bucharest)
- Slovakia: Jana Kadlecova (Bratislava)
- Countries working toward the introduction of Percentage Philanthropy
- Georgia: Horizonti Foundation
- Macedonia: Ministry of Finance
- Ukraine: Center for Philanthropy
- Hungarian institutions and NGOs related to the 1% campaign
- Rex Foundation, successful NGO in "collecting" 1%: Dr. Király Péter
- Taxation Authority: Pálinkásné Balázs Eszter
- Akció Kft., Advertising Agency: Ádám Marianna, Kontrohr Andrea
- State Audit Office: Pósch Gábor
Schedule of Activities:
October 16:
- Welcome Event: Contemporary Ballet Carmen by Szeged Contemporary Ballet
October 17:
- Welcome and facilitation by Marianna Török (Director, NIOK)
- Introduction of participants
- Presentations: recent developments regarding private giving and percentage philanthropy
in countries
having introduced the percentage system
- Presentation of draft papers by country-specific experts working toward the introduction of
the
percentage philanthropy system
- Focusing on: cooperation with public authorities, advocating NGO resource development
policies,
development of a donation-oriented national culture and percentage philanthropy.
- Open-floor discussions
- Evening Wine Reception
October 18:
- LGI outgoing fellows presentations regarding policy papers on NGO financial
sustainability in
several East Central European countries
- This was particularly relevant to the fellows' work and training in terms of the
practical
applications of public policy and policy paper development in a civil sector context.
- Meet with Hungarian institutions and NGOs related to the 1% Campaign
October 19-20:
Two days training by LGI personnel on the development and production of policy papers
- Knowledge Transfer: participants received the necessary know-how to conduct successful
research
in the policy arena and to develop and produce new policy papers.
- Practical Application: participants applied knowledge and skills from the training environment
to their working environments.
- Multiplier Effect: participants transfered new knowledge to others within similar sectors to
further promote the development of effective national policy papers concerning the civil sector
of each country.
- Discussion: participants discussed upcoming work and cooperation.
*All conference activities were conducted in English.
Summary compiled by:
Rachel J. McCullough-Sanden
Intern, NIOK
nonprofit@niok.hu
You can find background materials of presentation at the Conference point
January 2004
Project News: First phase of the Percentage Philanthropy Project concludes; new
funding for next project phase announced
The Percentage Philanthropy Conference held on 19-20 January 2004 in Budapest marked the
conclusion of the first phase of the Percentage Philanthropy Project managed by the Nonprofit
Information and Training Centre (NIOK) based in Budapest. The project promotes
"percentage philanthropy" in Central and Eastern Europe as one of other possible tools for
increasing revenues available to the NGO sector.
Launched in April 2003, the Percentage Philanthropy Project has aimed to generate critical
feedback to countries where percentage laws exist while providing information and assistance
to those that are interested in considering similar legislation. The project has coincided with
many new developments: in 2003 alone there were two new countries - Poland and Romania
-that joined the "Percentage Club"; Slovakia made major adjustments to its percentage
system raising the percentage level of transferable paid tax to 2% from both individual
taxpayers and, uniquely in the region, companies; Hungary added a completely new
element onto its 1% scheme in the form of a National Civil Fund, and Lithuania
geared up for the launch of its "2% for charity" facility in 2004.
NIOK is grateful to the donors, partners, organisations and individuals from numerous
countries for the help provided and that allowed the Percentage Philanthropy Project to:
- set up a website devoted to providing English-language news, key documents and
details of percentage legislation in Central and Eastern Europe
- establish a pool of experts on percentage laws
- produce a comprehensive study on the experience and practice of the percentage laws
in Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania and Poland (final version expected March 2004)
- hold a Percentage Philanthropy Conference on 19-20 January 2004 in Budapest where
the Percentage Philanthropy study was presented by the authors who contributed to it,
and also provided the first opportunity for Romania's brand new 1% provision to be
presented to an international audience
- bring together at the Percentage Philanthropy Conference 160 participants from over
20 countries to discuss percentage laws
- invite 10 new countries interested in developing such laws to submit proposals by 6
February 2004, from which 3 countries will be selected for the next phase of the project.
Opening the Percentage Philanthropy Conference on 19 January 2004, Mr Naotaka Oh,
Associate Programme Officer of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation announced that the
Sasakawa Central Europe Fund will support the core funding of the Percentage Philanthropy
Project for a further two years (2004 and 2005).
In 2004 the Philanthropy Percentage Project will provide direct support for percentage law
policy development in three new countries, mobilising the project's existing expert pool and
other available expertise. More direct involvement of additional countries in the planned
project activities is welcome subject to finding further financial support in the local countries
concerned or from other donors.
The Percentage Philanthropy Project, managed by NIOK, will continue to facilitate a strong
flow of information exchange among all countries interested in percentage laws primarily
through this website, www.onepercent.hu. NIOK appreciates and welcomes material and
contributions in English to share with users of this website. As part of project activities, NIOK
can consider translation of key documents useful in a regional context.
For further information, please contact NIOK's Director, Marianna Török at
m.torok@niok.hu
January 2004
Project News: Percentage Philanthropy study presented to 160 conference participants
from over 20 countries. A further 10 countries interested in percentage laws
Do the percentage laws adopted in Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Poland and mostly recently,
Romania promote genuine philanthropy? What opportunities and threats do such laws, which
allow individuals to allocate a portion of their previous year's paid personal income tax to an
eligible NGO of their choice, present? These and many other questions were debated by 160
participants from over 20 countries at the Percentage Philanthropy Conference on 19-20
January, 2004 organised by the Nonprofit Information and Training Centre (NIOK) in
Budapest. Many at the conference agreed percentage laws offer exciting new possibilities to
the NGO sector in this region. A much debated question is to what extent such laws can
promote a transition to private philanthropy. What is clear is percentage laws need to be part
of a bigger tool box of income generating measures for NGOs, and their introduction should
not be in exchange for existing incentives to stimulate giving or reductions in state support.
A comprehensive study on the experience and practice of the percentage laws in Hungary,
Slovakia, Lithuania and Poland was presented at the Percentage Philanthropy Conference by
the key players involved. Romania's brand new 1% provision, due to start operating in 2005,
was also introduced (see News from Romania).
The rich variety of NGOs, government officials, MPs, journalists, donors and researchers
present at the conference ignited very lively conference proceedings. There was a clear
feeling this truly Central and Eastern European project has an important role to play in sharing
the experiences of all the countries represented and shaping policies to better the working
environment of civil society organisations in the region.
There are certainly several clear direct gains but also some question marks around the real and
long term effects of the new percentage system. While it is still too early to give an overall
verdict, the Percentage Philanthropy study makes a significant contribution to sharing
knowledge and practice on percentage laws as well as developing thinking on the need to
develop a range of different funding tools to support the third sector.
Conference participants from at least 10 further countries expressed strong interest in
developing their own percentage laws. Discussion at the conference highlighted the need for
innovative resource mobilisation policy development especially in "resource-dry" countries.
The Percentage Philanthropy Conference was supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation,
the East-East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders through Soros Foundation-Hungary, the
Hungarian Prime Minister's Office (MEH) and the Orpheus Network of the European
Foundation Centre.
Final versions of the papers of the Percentage Philanthropy study presented at the conference
are available on this website. For more details of the conference participants and photos, see
Conference. A conference report is available in the concluding chapter of the
Percentage Philanthropy study - see Study
October 2003
Project News - Percentage Laws: Spreading the Percentage Experience
An article by Marianna Török, Director of the Nonprofit Information and Training Centre
(NIOK) on NIOK's Percentage Philanthropy Project published in SEAL Social Economy and
Law, Autumn 2003 (European Foundation Centre) is available at
http://www.efc.be/cgi-bin/articlepublisher.pl?filename=MT-SE-10-03-1.html
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November 2005
News from Bulgaria - CSI Assessment of Bulgarian civil society triggers 1% tax law
A report on the state of civil society in Bulgaria, released by the Balkan Assist Association
(BAA), the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) programme partner in Bulgaria, highlights funding
and sustainability as the major challenges to Bulgarian civil society. Given Bulgaria 's
upcoming accession to the European Union in 2007, many donors are now phasing out their support,
and Bulgarian civil society is challenged to develop new ways to sustain itself. One recommendation
emerging from the report is to develop a new law that would enable citizens to voluntarily donate
1% of their taxes to a civil society organisation of their choice.
Read more at www.civicus.org/new/content/CSIAssessmentBulgarianReport.htm
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March 2005
News from Czech Republic - The Czech Donors Forum: Providing Leadership for
Philanthropy
by Pavlína Kalousová and Monika Granja
The Czech Donors Forum (CDF), a non-profit organisation which provides support and leadership
to the donor community in the Czech Republic, is currently engaged in a number of important
and interesting initiatives, such as the 1% law project, the Donors Message Service, and
implementation of the new Civil Code's NGO provisions.
CDF initiates and implements activities focused on the promotion and cultivation of a sustainable
donor environment by improving the legal and fiscal conditions for donors, starting inter-sectoral
cooperation and in general building infrastructure for philanthropy in the Czech Republic.
Foundation Investment Fund
CDF actively participates in the Foundation Investment Fund (FIF) project through which funds from
privatisation have been allocated to 73 foundations. Czech foundations have made use of the funds
to build their registered capital (endowment). In 1999 the Donors Forum and a group of foundations
started to consider collective investing. A working group consisting of representatives of the
participating foundations was established and financed by the CDF. The Donors Forum actively helped
to promote the idea of a strong association of foundations at meetings with other foundations and
third parties and financially contributed to the publishing of advertising material. The aim of the
project was to cooperate with representatives of financial institutions and discuss the requirements
of the foundations. The working group selected ZB Trust's Balance Fund as the most favourable offer.
The foundations were not looking for maximum performance from the fund - they preferred a secure
investment, a conservative investment strategy, trust and partnership-based cooperation. In relation
to the FIF, the CDF has succeeded in the preparation and approval of the Amendment to the Law on F
oundations which creates more flexible conditions for the capital assets of foundations. The law
came into force in 2002.
Legal and Tax Program
The CDF's primary areas of interest in the legal-fiscal field are the consolidation of foundations
and endowment funds, the creation of conditions favourable for corporate giving, and improvement of
the legal environment for philanthropy. The latter includes advocacy of legislation enabling citizens
to designate 1% of their taxes for public benefit activities and facilitation of discussions between
foundations and the Ministry of Justice on the new Civil Code. The Code will replace major laws on
NGOs in the Czech Republic. The CDF is a member of a team of experts which is interpreting the new
Code, discussing its provisions with NGOs, and passing on their feedback to the enactors of the Code.
The 1% law project is an important element of the Czech Donors Forum program which aims to establish
an adequate legal funding framework for the non-profit sector in the Czech Republic. The 1% project was
launched at the end of 2002 and consists of developing a concept and preparing and proposing a 1% income
tax regulation to fund public non-profit organisations. The new tax designation law in the Czech Republic
will give taxpayers the option of allocating 1% of their deductions to public benefit NGOs - every
taxpayer will be able to designate one such institution.
The so-called "1% Initiative" program has been launched. This is an informal grouping of Czech NGOs which
supports the concept - and future adoption - of the 1% mechanism on the basis of the proposed legislative
reform. Activities include exchanging information, expanding support as well as establishing a lobby group.
The most representative NGOs in this country have joined the 1% initiative program. About 100 significant
NGOs were involved in starting the 1% initiative and currently make up the advocacy group.
The future plans are to amend the Law on Public Collections, work on changing the system of lotteries and
gambling in order to be more transparent when supporting non-profit activities, and, last but not least,
work on tax legislation (income tax and VAT).
A New Fiscal Instrument: the Donors Message Service
The Czech Donors Forum has recently launched the Donors Message Service (DMS) service which is a unique
SMS giving project that was created in order to support fundraising of NGOs by putting together all mobile
phone operators in the Czech Republic. It represents a new form of corporate support to NGOs based on close
cooperation where corporations make their existing technologies available for a good cause. DMS offers to
every NGO and foundation that fulfills basic conditions an opportunity to receive financial contributions from
individuals through SMS messages (DMS). The DMS is based on the following principles: same conditions for all
NGOs, one phone number for all NGOs to send SMSs, same price for every SMS. NGOs are registered and
proven to be transparent and they then obtain their key word for use by supporters (e.g. DMS_HOPE).
The project is run on a non-commercial basis which means that all parties (mobile operators, technical
providers and other partners) charge up to 9.9% of the contributions.
Structure of the Donors Forum
CDF supports the development of organised philanthropy and serves the Czech foundation community (375
foundations and 965 foundations without endowment). From the legal point of view, the Czech Donors Forum
is an association of citizens, established according to Law No. 83/1990 Sb - Law on the Association of
Citizens - formed in 1995 and incorporated in 1997.
The CDF has three membership categories:
- 32 major foundations in the Association of Foundations (established in 1999)
- 7 non-endowed foundations in the Association of Non-Endowed Foundations (established in 2003)
- 12 corporate donors in the Club of Corporate Donors DONATOR (established in 2003)
The Club of Corporate Donors DONATOR brings together major corporations operating in the Czech Republic
and giving money and in-kind donations to public benefit activities.
All three associated bodies have their own membership criteria and are committed to the rules of ethical
conduct and actively participate in the development of the Czech philanthropy environment.
Serving the Donor Community
CDF acts as a platform for the regular exchange of ideas, information and expertise. The activities are
aimed at creating favourable conditions for philanthropy at the individual, institutional, community and
company levels.
CDF is the sole network organisation in the Czech Republic that provides systematic and long-term support
to all foundations and corporate donors in the area of corporate philanthropy. The main priorities for CDF
are the cultivation and development of the foundation sector, the strengthening of cooperation between the
foundation and private sectors, and preparing and advocating for systemic changes. Also, CDF now actively
works in the area of corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility through campaigning for
better and more responsible corporate giving.
We also work with the media in promoting best practices in giving as well as setting more favourable standards
for informing about philanthropic projects. For this reason CDF, for example, annually organises public
discussions between the media and donor representatives.
CDF provides services not only to donors but also to other groups (public authorities, companies, banks, etc).
These services mainly consist of organising training courses, seminars, and meetings, providing information
services, and publishing directories, overviews, and analyses.
We have also created affinity group meetings which will - in the long-run - lead to a discussion on strategic
giving and effective cooperation among donors in certain areas and open a dialogue with grantseeking NGOs.
International Work
CDF is active in international work mainly in Central and Eastern Europe where it tries to assist other
associations of donors in the region by transferring its experiences and know-how; it is active in the WINGS
network, particularly in the group of organisations working with corporate donors. Currently CDF closely
cooperates with the Slovak Donors Forum in preparation of an SMS giving project in Slovakia.
Pavlína Kalousová is Executive Director of the Czech Donors Forum in Prague. Monika Granja is Manager of
the CDF's Legal and Tax Program.
Tel: (420 2) 2421-5385
Fax: (420 2) 2421-6544
E-mail: kalousova@donorsforum.cz
Web: www.donorsforum.cz
The article is from the EFC's SEAL Journal, Winter 2004-2005 issue
January 2004
News from Czech Republic - Details of 1% mechanism proposed by NGOs to
Czech government
A leaflet with details of 1% mechanism proposed by NGOs to the Czech government is
available here.
October 2003
News from the Czech Republic - 1% law project update: legislative plans and
information activities
Amendments to income tax legislation define the principle of assigning 1% of paid income
tax as part of the Czech Republic's legal framework. These amendments have been prepared
by a legal group - consisting of lawyers, auditors, tax legal consultants and representatives
and experts from universities and the NGO sector - which forms part of the Czech Donors
Forum's 1% law project. It is hoped that the 1% proposal package will be submitted to the
Czech government by the beginning of 2004. If approved by the government and by the
Czech parliament, the 1% system could enter into force in 2005.
The Czech Donors Forum, the organisation coordinating the 1% law project, is also
organising consultations with the NGO sector - in the form of working seminars - regarding
the proposed legal conditions of the 1% scheme. Besides providing information and obtaining
support for the "1% initiative", the aim is that such consultations will help specify and fine
tune the details and parameters of the legal and technical mechanisms in the proposed
amendments.
The so-called "1% initiative" has also been launched. This is an informal grouping of Czech
NGOs which support the concept - and future adoption - of a 1% mechanism on the basis of
the proposed legislative reform. Activities include exchanging information, expanding support
as well as establishing a lobby group. The most representative NGOs in this country have
joined the 1% initiative programme. About 30 significant NGOs were involved in starting the
1% initiative and currently make up the lobby group. The initiative is an open grouping of
NGOs which any interested organisation can join.
The Czech Donors Forum has also set up a new website www.rozhodni.cz devoted to
providing information about 1% related issues. Organisations interested in joining the 1%
initiative can register on this site. (For more information about this website, see News from
the Czech Republic below).
Among the various 1% project activities, discussions took place in Prague in October, 2003
between the project's expert legal and advocacy groups and Slovak expert, Jana Kadlecová on
a range of 1% issues. (Jana Kadlecová is actively involved in 1% issues in Slovakia and one
of the experts contributing to the Percentage Philanthropy Project's study on percentage
laws).
Based on information provided by Monika Granja, Programme Manager, Czech Donors
Forum, tel.: + 420 224 215 956; fax: + 420 224 216 544, email: granja@donorsforum.cz
For more details and information (in Czech) about the 1% law project, see www.rozhodni.cz
and www.donorsforum.cz
October 2003
News from the Czech Republic - website set up to help push for 1% mechanism
A new Czech language website www.rozhodni.cz has been set up as part of efforts to
introduce a 1% mechanism in the Czech Republic. Launched by the Czech Donors Forum in
October 2003, the site provides information about how a 1% mechanism would work, keeps
users in touch with developments relating to the adoption of such a law in the Czech Republic
and explains the terminology used in relation to 1% issues. (For more details of plans to
introduce a Czech 1% law, see the News from the Czech Republic above.)
The site is mostly aimed at NGOs and the media and provides specific information on the 1%
mechanism, as well as the implications and significance of the proposed 1 % amendment for
NGOs and individual citizens. Organisations interested in joining the campaign - the "1%
initiative" - to introduce a 1% mechanism in the Czech Republic can register on
www.rozhodni.cz.
The Czech website, whose name "Rozhodni" means "decide", also focuses on experiences of
percentage laws in other countries, particularly neighbouring Slovakia. Links are provided to
websites helping implement 1% or 2% type laws in Slovakia (www.rozhodni.sk), Lithuania
(www.labdara-parama.lt), Hungary (www.nonprofit.hu and www.niok.hu), and also the
Percentage Philanthropy Project's website (www.onepercent.hu) which covers percentage law
developments in Central and Eastern Europe.
Further information can be obtained from Monika Granja, Programme Manager, Czech
Donors Forum, tel.: + 420 224 215 956; fax: + 420 224 216 544, email:
granja@donorsforum.cz
For more details and information (in Czech) about the 1% law project, see www.rozhodni.cz
and www.donorsforum.cz
July 2003
News from the Czech Republic - 1% law project
The 1% law project is an important element of the Czech Donors Forum programme which
aims to establish an adequate legal funding framework for the non-profit sector in the Czech
Republic.
The 1% project was launched at the end of 2002 and consists of developing a concept, then
preparing and proposing a 1% income tax regulation to fund public non-profit organisations.
Two teams of experts have been set up to carry out this project. A legal group is preparing and
elaborating the legal basis and content of the legislative proposal. An advocacy group is
working with NGOs developing cooperation and their involvement in shaping and
implementing this project.
At this stage in the project, the parameters and legal basis for the 1% Act have been worked
out in their basic form. Consultations are being held with the Ministry of Finance and tax
authorities and discussions are being conducted with NGOs in the Czech Republic.
Consultations are also underway with another countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and
Lithuania) and such contacts are providing useful information and lessons learned in terms of
the process of preparing, submitting and adopting percentage laws.
Based on information provided by Monika Granja, Programme Manager, Czech Donors
Forum, tel.: + 420 224 215 956; fax: + 420 224 216 544, email: granja@donorsforum.cz
For more details and information (Czech language) about the 1% law project, see
www.donorsforum.cz
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January 2005
News from Estonia - Estonian parliament discussed civil society developments
On January 20, 2005, Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) conducted its first public
hearing and debate on the implementation of the Estonian Civil Society Development
Concept (EKAK) for 2004-2006 as a topic of significant national importance.
Jaan Őunapuu, Minister of the Regional Affairs who chairs the joint committee of
EKAK gave a full report of the progress of the implementation plan of EKAK,
adopted by the Estonia government in August 12, 2005. Minister Őunapuu was followed
by the Chair of the Estonian Parliament's Constitutional Committee, Mr Urmas
Reinsalu reporting on the results and proposals of the nonprofits. Finally, the
Head of the Riigikogu's EKAK Support Group, Mr Avo Üprus reported what different
ministries and nonprofits have done in order to implement EKAK. All speakers
received numerous questions from all political parties elected to the Riigikogu.
The discussion lasted 3,5 hours.
Reporting on the implementation of EKAK on parliamentaty level takes place every two
years. The discussion in the parliament was preceded by a meeting of three standing
committees of the Riigkogu (Constitional, Social and Cultural) and the representatives
of citizens? associations. It was recognized together that first steps have been taken
but some notably important actions are still to be done. The main speakers from the
nonprofit side included Kristina Mänd from NENO and Mall Hellam from Open Estonia
Foundation as well as the Estonian NGO Roundtable.
During the upcoming years, there is an urgent need to work out transparent and clear
funding schemes targeted to support the development of nonprofits and the civil society
from the state budget, set adequate and informational register of non-profit organizations,
and data collection methods describing civic engagement, develop uniform mechanisms for the
involvement of nonprofits to the development and implementation of policies and legislative
acts and enahnce civic education and public awareness. The need to establish a civil society
endowment, as proposed by the nonprofits, was stressed several times.
EKAK was approved by the Estonian Parliament December 2002. It is a strategy that specifies
the mutually complementary roles of the public authority and citizen initiative and the
principles of cooperation for shaping and implementing public policies and building up a
civil society in Estonia. The general aim of the document is to express common understanding
of the public authority and the nonprofit sector about cooperation as social partners in
order to build up a civil society and a social economy in Estonia with the active participation
of its citizens. Many countries have reached success in this area. Estonia?s EKAK, English,
Irish, Scottish and Welsh Compacts, Canada?s Accord and Croatian agreement are documents to
prove it.
EKAK is available at www.ngo.ee. We will send the plan of implementation if requested.
March 3-5, 2005, NENO together with the Estonian Ministry of the Interior and the Baltic-American
Partnership Program are organizingan international seminar on strategies and agreements between
the public sector and the nonprofit sector. The seminar takes place in Tallinn, Estonia and
brings together about 120 experts and specialists from 15 countries.
August 2004
News from Estonia - Estonian government's huge leap into the civil society
August 12, 2004, was an historic day in the Estonian civil society. The Estonian
government unanimously adopted the implementation plan of 2004 -2006 of the Estonian
Civil Society Development Concept (EKAK).
As many of you know, EKAK is the result a long and challenging process, involving hundreds
of people from nonprofit, public and academic sectors.
EKAK (originally approved by the Estonian Parliament, December 2002) is a strategy that
specifies the mutually complementary roles of the public authority and citizen
initiative and the principles of cooperation for shaping and implementing public
policies and building up a civil society in Estonia. The general aim of the document
is to express common understanding of the public authority and the nonprofit sector
about cooperation as social partners in order to build up a civil society and a social economy
in Estonia with the active participation of its citizens.
The plan of action for the implementation of the EKAK for 2004-2006 summarizes the work
done so far by a joint commission of the government of the Republic of Estonia and the
representatives of the citizens' associations and it sets forth the most important actions
for the implementation of the EKAK which are feasible and promote activities supporting future
choices for developing this field.
The efforts of the joint committee were put in a format of a table consisting of 11 goals
emphasizing issues related to legislation, civic involvement, funding, statistics, civic
education and public awareness that are divided into separate activities made specific with
respect to magnitude, time and responsibility.
Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations was the coordinator of a project that led to the
birth of EKAK and Estonian NGO Roundtable. Kristina Mänd from NENO serves as a co-chair in the
joint committee's working group on funding and statistics; Mall Hellam from Open Estonia
Foundation serves as a co-chair to the civic education and public awareness working group. Both
organizations are also participating in the work of Estonian NGO Roundtable whose chair co-led
the third working on, working group on legislation and civic involvement.
I believe that with this step we are once living up the words of Kumi Naidoo, the Secretary
General of Civicus when he described Estonia as a small country, vast society.
EKAK is available on www.emy.ee.
September 2003
News from Estonia - 1% example explained
Hungary's 1% Law featured as an issue during a weekend of events on 6/7 September 2003
in the run-up to Estonia's referendum on EU membership. Marianna Török, NIOK's Director
described how Hungary's 1% Law works and also introduced Estonian NGOs to the
Percentage Philanthropy Project. The events' organisers were the Open Estonia Foundation
and Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations (NENO).
For more information about NENO's work, please contact via Kristina Mänd at
kristina@ngo.ee
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June 2008
News from Hungary - Existing Legislation regarding 1% Modified in Hungary
The Hungarian Parliament has enacted amendments to the 1% law. The amendments are introduced
in response to the need that taxpayers should be informed whether their designations have
reached the beneficiaries. Further...
ECNL news
February 2008
News from Hungary - Official 1% statistics - 2007
Referenced tables: table 1, table 2, table 3, table 4
December 2007
News from Hungary - Hungarian 1% law has changed
September 2007
News from Hungary - Official 1% statistics
Referenced tables: table 1, table 2, table 3, table 4, table 5
February 2007
News from Hungary - Statistical data issued by the Taxation Authority about
1% designations in Hungary in year 2006.
August 2006
News from Hungary - Recent changes in 1% legislation in Hungary
"Under Article 4, paragraph 1, point (i) of Act CXXVI of 1996 on the Use of a Specified
Portion of Personal Income Tax According to the Designation of the Taxpayer (as amended
several times later on), as of 1 July, 2006, higher education institutions specified in
Annex 1 of the Act on Higher Education also fall into the category of NGO beneficiaries.
These higher education institutions - which in 2006 were not listed among possible
beneficiary organisations - may for the first time be validly included in the designating
declarations made in 2007."
October 2005
News from Hungary - 1% - Main statistics - 2005.
The income tax regulation enables tax payer individuals for nine years now to donate 1 %
(1+1% since 1998) of their paid-up income tax in favour of beneficiaries regulated by law.
Every year more and more organisations such as foundations, non-governmental organisations,
etc.prove successfully to dispose of all necessary conditions and are hereby entitled to
participate in donations made by private individuals.
In 2005 private persons had the freedom to choose one from four preferential budgetary
projections they wish to support. So besides the "Support of ragweed eradiction activities"
also "Prevention of social criminality" , "Support of health-improvement aiming sports
activities" as well as "The Fatherland Fund Support" could be preferred.
The modification of the regulation in 2005 also allowed the individuals to hand in their
disposals with their tax statement inquiries. 1404 individuals handed in 2147 declarations
to the state tax authorities.
For the first time this year an electronic way of declaration via Internet was possible for
private individuals who have chosen the electronic way of handing in their income tax returns.
362 individuals chosing this way handed in 683 declarations to the state authorities.
The statutory provisions allowed private individuals using the electronic way of income tax
returns to hand in their declarations by postal way - however, this opportunity was only
taken by 34 individuals.
The majority of the declarations was received by the state authority further on with the
personal income tax returns or the accountings prepared by the employers. Besides the
personal income tax returns 781.000 individuals handed in 1.270.000 declarations while
624.000 employees accounting via their employers returned 957.000 declarations to the
state tax authorities.
Our authorities received this year 4.334.000 personal income tax returns sent by
individuals or prepared by the employers at the request of the employees for tax statements.
Based upon the tax returns 1.433.000 persons out of the 4.334.000 would not have been able
to make a donation either because they did not declare a contractible income or because
considering the allowances the contracted income would not have been chargeable.
The 2.901.000 progressive income tax payers out of the 4.334.000 individuals could have
disposed of two times 1% of 22,2 billion HUF.
Out of the 4.334.000 individuals 1.408.000 persons made a donation of the 1 or
alterbatively 1+1% of their personal income tax.
Out of the 2.232.000 declarations handed in this year the stage of the processing at the
present time shows a 95% validity meaning 2.127.000 valid declarations.
The beneficiaries, the valid declarations, the number of designators, the amount donated
to the beneficiaries and the average amount per declaration changed during the years
2000-2005 as follows.
Source: Taxation Authority
See 'Designation results in Hungary 2005' PDF file by Taxation Authority
September 2005
News from Hungary - Be good, do good - At least one sixth of taxpayers used NIOK's
services in donating 1% of their taxes
The Nonprofit Information and Training Centre (NIOK) Foundation assisted taxpayers and
NGOs in making 1% donations and attracting them, respectively, also during the tax return
period for 2004. The foundation's website and NGO database registered 2.9 million downloads,
our information service received 5,000 phone calls, and WAP downloads amounted to 11,000
in this period, which implies approximately 200,000 visitors and potential taxpayers.
The outstandingly high number of visits to our website shows - besides the annually growing
share of Internet users - that www.nonprofit.hu and our NGO database constitute one of the
most reliable information sources to taxpayers in terms of finding out information on 1%
donating and the tax number of organisations eligible for such donations. As a result, the
services provided by NIOK Foundation and the collaborating Nonprofit Service Centres have
grown to be a most effective supportive force to the sector. This is nicely demonstrated by
the amount of donations facilitated by our services, estimated to be over 1 billion forints.
See 'Be good, do good' PDF file by Balázs Gerencsér
File above requires Adobe Acrobat you can download here
March 2005
News from Hungary - Intentions, Participants, Results
Experiences based upon the data of the first round of proposals at the National Civic Fund
'This analysis was prepared when the first year of the National Civic Fund has not been closed
down yet. Subsidies granted in the first round has been received by the civic organisations,
but the proposals in the second round are being evaluated. Therefore the data used in the analysis
are not the very final ones, but they reflect the status of November 2004, when I received the data.
This is just a snapshot.
This status may defer from the final picture in many aspects, which will be worked out only in
spring 2005, after the division of subsidies.
Some insecurity is caused by the data of NCF-tenderers' status in the nonpofit sector, since one part
of the statistical data is recent (relating the number of organisations), whereas other part is used
from a survey of 2000 (relating the central state subsidies). The results of the last statistical data
collection (among which the detailed financial data) will be available only at the beginning of next year.
Despite this, I am convinced that the majority of the statements, based upon the data available, are relevant.
In cases, where the results can be questioned, I will not provide analysis or I (rarely) comment the
uncertainity. I coclude the study with a methodological chapter, which provides information not only on the
indicators' contents and the calculations' methods. This chapter is a significant part of the analysis.
Questions discussed in it (controllable and consistent data, ud-to-date records and questioning) are important
in the respect of the transparency and publicity of NCF's operation. This information surely is interesting
for the mentioned ones.'
Introduction by the author, Eva Kuti
See 'Intentions, Participants, Results' Word file
February 2005
News from Hungary - Some Recommendations before Starting the 1% Campaign
Travelling by the underground, one can notice immediately that time for tax declaration is
near: strange advertisements can be seen next to the escalators or at the platforms of
stations. People returning home from work face never-heard problems: unknown organisations
that don't want to encourage them to purchase, to invest or travel, but to invite them to
a special way of donations.
My friends who are not experienced in nonprofit sector would contact me in this time. They
get astonished how many various nonprofit organisations there have been founded for how many
different purposes. And then they ask my opinion on this or that foundations or organisations.
We can state positive or negative comments on the so-called 1% Law, but there is one absolute
positive characteristics of it and that is that these campaigns would focus people's attention
to the nonprofit sector.
The Bird Hospital Foundation was the "first swallow" that flew in with its advertisements. They
were not anxious about the modified date of tax declaration or the insecurity after installing
the new system. They managed to get in to the circle of 50 organisations that collected the most
donations last year. They will be successful this year, too, for sure.
What can be expected this year? What can we suggest to beginners or organisations that have been
dealing with campaign for years?
The most important news of the year is that the date of tax declaration has been changed, thus date
of the 1% declarations have also differ from last year.
February 15 - deadline for private entrepreneurs and people who chose tax to be defined by
the tax authorities;
April 25 - people declaring tax through employers;
May 20 - people declaring tax individually.
This brings up the necessity of a 3-month campaign (phantom?), but it can be worked out by
organisations expecting really high donations as income. Larger part of taxpayers may have to declare
their tax later, but nobody knows exact timing, since neither the ratio of people choosing imposition
tax nor the ratio of people paying tax before the deadline, is known.
It is easier to give advice based upon last year's results. It is possible to download a list from the
website of the Hungarian Tax Authorities (APEH), which is also available at www.nonprofit.hu site.
According to this list donations more than 10 million Ft can be expected only in case of large aid
organisations and organisations dealing with animals and health care (especially organisations dealing
with seriously sick children). There are, of course, exceptions, the Foundation of Faith Church
(Hit Gyülekezet), which is the odd one out and which was the 19th organisation benefited the most from
the 1%. We can find the only educational organisation among the first 40, which is the Foundation for
Teaching Japanese. As we say, these exceptions prove the rule. This means that costly campaigns with
larger success can be arranged by organisations, which are supported by a closed (preferably wealthy)
community that can be approached cost-effectively, except for the mentioned areas.
These expenses are increasing continuously for those who want to advertise in the media, too. After
hearing about the subsidies of National Civic Fund (NCA), mediums that were fairly generous before
(there are not so many), would like to see more income after donation-competition of the civils.
Therefore it is exceptional luck to receive free advertising surface.
Organisations might be more successful, if they don't want to join the competition of the "big ones".
It is better if they have already convinced their target community with their past year's work and
results and proved to be worthy of receiving donations, and have demonstrated that they could use the
1% and other donations efficiently for their goals. These organisations, which usually budgeted under
1 million Ft, should not think, however, that they should not try to use all tools available: Here they
need all possible creativity and convincing force as well as efficient communication and transparency,
so the 1%-s would be received.
NCF created a new situation: not only the organisations can receive unexpected advantages that have good
connections to the director or marketing manager of a powerful medium this year, but also the ones that
compose their creative materials and appearance with the help of NCF-subsidies. Intervention to free
competition, since it can be named a special competition of fund-raising, may cause difficulties to
organisations not receiving such subsidies or organisations never requested state subsidies. Therefore
it would pay organisations to rummage for sides of NCF and count with the more intensive campaign of
organisations received subsidies.
Therefore I recommend using the free service of 'Civil Cooperation for 1%', campaign helping civil
organisations, which was established with the collaboration of 8 organisations:
NIOK organised the first 1% campaign in 1997 in order to provide help for civil organisations and the
1% Law. Basis of the campaign is the database of NGOs, which was already started at that time and the
free call information service of MATÁV. During the following years more and more medium got involved into
the campaign and the database was transcribed to the www.nonprofit.hu portal. In this way, it became the
country's largest civil register public and accessible for everyone. The number of organisations registered
there increased from year to year, thus this year there can be 9 000 organisations' data found here.
Meanwhile the number of taxpayers increased yearly who asked for help, for organisations' taxnumbers, thank
to the widening media-partnership and the intensive presence of media during the campaign. In year 2000 there
were 20 thousand telephone calls registered. In these months 150 thousand people visited our Internet portal,
whereas 7500 contacted our WAP service. However, the number of donators have not been increased in the past
years, therefore NIOK Foundation initiated a collaboration, which is to operate a nation-wide campaign together
with one (or more) Civil Service Center of the Regions of Hungary. If they receive part of the NCF-subsidy hoped
for so much, the following services will be provided (from February 7):
- public and free database where any civil organisations can be registered,
- at the site www.nonprofit.hu and the connected regional portals can data, laws, guides on how to fill out
the 1% declaration and other useful information regarding 1%,
- through wap.nonprofit.hu can the database reached,
- there exists a free number (06 80 200 074) of MATÁV, where information is provided on workdays
from 9.00 to 17.00 about the organisations' taxnumber
- media campaign depending on the size of subsidies with free creative elements
Members of Consortium:
- Central Hungary Region - NIOK Foundation (Budapest)
- Central Transdanubia Region - Civil Szervezetek Fejér Megyei Szövetsége (Székesfehérvár)
- Western Transdanubia Region - Vas Megyei Művelődési és Ifjúsági Közösségi Alapítvány (Szombathely)
- South Transdanubia Region - Nevelők Háza Egyesület (Pécs)
- Northern Hungary Region - Regionális Civil Központ Alapítvány (Miskolc)
- Northern Great Plain Region - "IMPULZUS" Egyesület Civil Szolgáltató Központ (Szolnok),
valamint az Első Nyírségi Fejlesztési Társaság (Nyíregyháza)
- Southern Great Plain Region - Álláskeresők Egyesületeinek Megyei Szövetsége (Kecskemét)
Further information can be received at: www.osszefogas.nonprofit.hu, or at the nonprofit portal.
Balázs Gerencsér
January 2005
News from Hungary - Main statistics of 1% - 2004
1% donations and all the consequences have significantly increased since 1997. During the past
eight years, the number of valid declarations became more by 300,000 items
(from 1,058,362 to 1,361,756) which resulted almost four times more money for the civic sector
(from 1.85,billion to 6.9 billion). As a consequence, the proportion of donated sum per civic
organisation rised to twice (from 115,995 HUF to 302,006 HUF). The same tendency can be
experienced in case of churches: between 1999 and 2004 they received three times more financial
aid than before (from 1.4 billion HUF to 4.58 billion HUF).
For more details see 'Main statistics of 1% - 2004' word file.
October 2004
News from Hungary - Does the State decide on the money? What does the National
Civic Fund accomplish?
This year is the first time when non-profit elections were held. The result of it is that the
National Civic Fund could start its operation. Péter Medgyessy, ex-prime minister announced
the initiation of the National Civic Fund (NCA) in fall 2002 at a conference of the Parliament.
Later on the Government elabourated the relevant regulation of law and it was passed
by the parliament.
According to the law, the civic fund could manage the money, that has been offered
to non-profit organisations by the tax-payers as their 1% contribution. This is the
first year and in many respects, it can be named as somewhat test year, the civic fund
is to manage HUF 7 milliard. Major part of the money is to provide financial support for
the operational expenses of the civic organisations.
NCA's strategic directorial board is the Council, whereas the Colleges decide on invitation
for proposals and the dissemination of money. Representatives of non-profit orgaisations are
seated in the council and the college, the ones that were elected by the country-and-county
organisations during the two-series elector's assembly. President of the civic fund is Ferenc
Bárdos, who is the President of the Életfa Environment Protection Association, located in Eger.
Expectations regarding the National Civic Fund are very wide: some think that it is a cure-all
and hope that the problems of civic organisations will have been solved by dissemination of
the milliards. In others' opinion the fact that the Budget finances the expenses of rent and
utilities of the civil organisations, may ensure the survival for them, but does not necessarily
bring the organisations into a partner-position.
There are others, who are afraid of that ministries, referring to the HUF 7 milliard as available
funds, will significantly reduce the program-supports that non-profit organisations have received
until now. If this happened, we could not speak about extra financial sources and civil organisations
would still face the same problem: despite the fact that they could work under more relaxing
financial circumstances, they still would have no money for program-supports. President of the
civic fund, Ferenc Bárdos also think that these opinions are not without real fears, but, as
he comments, anything certain can only be said based upon precise financial reports on the topic.
Colleges of the National Civic Fund have already prepared the first invitations for proposals and the
first impressions are dissimilar. Approximately half of the proposals were not correct either in their
forms or in their content, thus these were turned down. Encouraging though, and we should remind
everybody again and again, that this time the majority of the decision making bodies are not
politicians and state officials but elected representatives of the civil sector.
Source: Népszabadság
September 2003
News from Hungary - 20% more support for 1% beneficiaries in 2003; 6% more
taxpayers give 1% support to civil society organisations.
Every third income taxpayer in Hungary used the opportunity to transfer 1% of tax
paid on their previous year's income either to a non-governmental organisation or a church in
2003. A total of 9.92 billion forints (HUF) was received by the two types of beneficiaries,
20% more in value than the previous year. A total of 6.1 billion forints was designated by
taxpayers in support of NGO activities.*
According to the latest figures released by the Hungarian tax authority for 2003, 1.4 million
Hungarian taxpayers designated 1% of their paid tax to a range of different civil society
organisations including voluntary organisations, foundations, public foundations, national
public collections, cultural institutions and other organisations. In total, 21,843 organisations
received 6.1 billion forints.
The number of Hungarian taxpayers who designated 1% of their previous year's tax to civil
society organisations grew by 6% in 2003 compared to one year earlier. The total of 1%
amounts of paid tax designated by taxpayers to the civil sector is growing every year and has
doubled over the last five years. The current 20% increase in designated 1% funds is greater
than the increase registered the previous year.
Year Amount in HUF designated to civil society organisations (excludes churches)
1999 3.0 billion
2000 3.7 billion
2001 4.3 billion
2002 5.1 billion
2003 6.1 billion
Of the nearly 22,000 organisations that were designated 1% amounts, most - 9,393
organisations - received between 100,000 thousand and 1 million forints. Whereas 548
organisations were designated less than 1,000 forints, 734 organisations were designated
between 1 - 5 million forints, 80 organisations were designated between 5-15 million forints
and 18 organisations received above 20 million forints in support from the public.
Tax office statistics show that 95 organisations received 1% support from more than 1000
people, while 8 organisations were supported by over 10,000 people. Among the various
types of non-governmental organisations, foundations continue to receive the most
designations. Topping the list is an organisation which received 151 million forints from
39,000 taxpayers' designations.
* 6.1 billion HUF is approximately 23.5 million euros
Based on a press release in Hungarian issued by the Hungarian Tax Authority (APEH) on 30
September 2003 (www.apeh.hu/informacio/2_0917_ado32b.htm). For further
information in English, see tables providing details of 1+1% designations issued by the
Hungarian Tax Authority, 4 September 2003, and Letter from the Hungarian Tax Authority to
NIOK, 25 September 2003.
September 2003
News from Hungary - 10 billion forints from 1% scheme in 2003
Writing on 5 September 2003 in Népszabadság (the widest read Hungarian newspaper),
Emese F. Szabó highlights this year's increased amount of one percents allocated by
Hungarian taxpayers to NGOs. Taxpayers can also make a second 1% transfer to a
registered church of their choice or if they do not wish to support a church, to special
government funds named in the tax law. The article which follows was translated by NIOK as
part of the Percentage Philanthropy Project.
One and a half million people grasped the opportunity to designate 1+1% of their personal
income tax to some organisation. A total of 2.1 million declarations arrived at revenue offices
- it's possible for one person to make two 1% designations.
The 1% designations collected - totalling 10 billion forints (*) - are shared among more than
20,000 organisations. The amount of support has doubled in the last four years - last year 8.3
billion forints were collected. According to tax office calculations, if every taxpayer utilised
the 1% opportunity, 21.2 billion forints could be collected. (The 4.4 million taxpayers have
until 20 March to declare which organisation they wish to designate their one percents to.)
This year the highest amount designated by a single taxpayer was 151 million forints in
favour of a health care foundation.
In the case of the churches, the Hungarian Catholic Church received the highest amount -
1.86 billion forints thanks to the support of more than 400,000 people. The Hungarian
Presbyterian Church was supported with 600 million forints from 123,000 believers, and the
Hungarian Lutheran Church received 192 million forints from 36,000 people. The Association
of Hungarian Jewish Congregations gained 68 million forints from 7,200 people, while
10,000 supporters of the Assembly Of The Faith helped out their church with 31 million
forints. It was possible to transfer money to a total of 116 churches out of which 113 were
supported by believers. Almost three billion forints were allocated to the churches by 635,000
people.
Most of the support was allocated to NGOs (non-governmental organisations). The revenue
office registered more than 1.3 million valid declarations for NGOs in excess of 6 billion
forints. Within this amount, the biggest part of the 1% designations (one million declarations)
-totalling 4.7 billion forints - was received by foundations with the lion's share going to
health-care and education organisations. National public museums and other cultural
institutions attracted the least popular support - from only two thousand people,
though these allocations totalled 9.6 million forints.
This year 142,000 taxpayers' declarations devoted 819 million forints to special funds for
anti-ragweed activities and public health care tasks, highlighted as targets in the current
budget. Last year's special fund - emergency patient care - received one hundred million
forints more.
The tax office has already notified the organisations concerned of the support they can expect
to receive by 30 November, 2003 at the latest. The organisations are obliged to publish the
number of designations and the amount of money received.
(*) 10 billion Hungarian forints is approximately 39 million euros.
For further information, see tables providing details of 1+1% designations issued by the
Hungarian Tax Office and Letter from the Hungarian Tax Office to NIOK.
September 2003
News from Hungary - Multi-sector cooperation on 1% campaign produces more than
800 million forints for Hungary's nonprofit sector
At least 840 million forints (approx. 3 million euros) is the conservative estimate of the
Nonprofit Information and Training Centre (NIOK) in terms of the funds its 1% campaign in
2003 generated for Hungary's nonprofit sector. Based on telephone calls received and visits to
its website and WAP database services, NIOK estimates it facilitated at least 200,000
declarations of people wishing to designate 1% of their previous year's income tax to an
NGO.
The purpose of NIOK's 2003 media campaign which ran throughout February and March
remained unchanged from previous years: to raise awareness of the significance of the 1%
giving opportunity, to call attention to NIOK's 1% service providing information about more
than 5,000 organisations, and to give information about the legal framework of the 1% Law.
NIOK does not accept 1% transfers for itself but each year campaigns to encourage even more
taxpayers to allocate 1% of their paid personal income tax to NGOs.
NIOK's 1% campaign - aimed at raising awareness of the greatest possible circle of
taxpayers, employers and the media to the importance of the 1% scheme and its impact - had
a special focus on reaching out to tax payers via mobile telephones and increasing the number
of direct visits to companies.
Backed by an impressive mix of government, corporate and media sponsors who provided
financial and in-kind contributions totalling 80 million forints (approximately 300,000 euros),
the 1% campaign involved advertising NIOK's free-toll telephone help-line number and
Internet and WAP databases on national and local TV and radio, citylight posters in major
cities, in national newspapers and magazines and also on flyers distributed at tax offices
throughout the country. NIOK's logo and banner advertisement could be found on a major
Hungarian internet service provider and in 200 more portals and web pages.
NIOK has organised its "Give a Share to the Civil Sector!" information and media
campaign designed to promote the successful implementation of the 1% Law in Hungary
every year since 1997.
More information can be found in NIOK's 2003 report on its 1% campaign and summary report
on providing key data on NIOK campaigns, 1997 - 2003.
July 2003
News from Hungary - 1% income tax "donations" to set size of new National Civil Fund
The Hungarian 1% Law is to play a key role in determining the annual budget of the National
Civil Fund adopted by the Hungarian Parliament on 23 June 2003.
Each year from 2004 onwards the Hungarian government will contribute to the Fund an
amount equal to total 1% income tax "donations" (more formally known as designations)
made by taxpayers to NGOs the same year. In 2003 Hungarian taxpayers make use of the 1%
Law to designate about 6.1 billion HUF to NGOs (approximately 23.5 million euros).
While a number of issues about the Fund's operation remain open, the National Civil Fund
marks an important breakthrough in several respects. First, it represents an important
substantial new source of funding for NGOs' operational costs. Second, it provides an even
greater incentive for NGOs to persuade the public to make use of the 1% income tax
designation opportunity and hence increase the Fund's budget. And third, civil society
delegates are included in the Fund's decision-making structure.
Further information and commentary by Veronika Mora (Hungarian Environmental
Partnership Foundation (HEPF) on the National Civil Fund's purpose, beneficiaries,
financing and decision-making mechanism can be found at
www.ceetrust.org/news/43.html
The new National Civil Fund legislation is also described on the website of the International
Center for Not-for-Profit Law at http://www.icnl.org/PRESS/20030707.htm
ICNL's English translation of the National Civil Fund is available here.
Based on information from HERP and ICNL, a more detailed article, "Hungary's National
Civil Fund: Building on the 1% Law" appeared in SEAL Social Economy and Law, Autumn
2003(European Foundation Centre) and can be found at
http://www.efc.be/cgi-bin/articlepublisher.pl?filename=HI-SE-10-03-1.html
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April 2005
News from Japan - A tiny step toward transparent tax spending
It is a fact that taxes are hard to collect, while questions are constantly raised about the
way the funds are spent. How about letting taxpayers choose the way their money is spent.
Ichikawa city in Chiba Prefecture has translated the idea into an ordinance.
Under the new plan, residents can offer 1 percent of the municipal tax they pay to nonprofit
or citizens' groups operating in the city. A taxpayer can choose only one group.
When informed of the designated group, city hall will allocate the earmarked tax contributions
as municipal subsidies.
The method, patterned after the taxation system in Hungary, is called the taxpayers' support
system for citizen-activity groups. Ichikawa introduced it this month, with the start of fiscal 2005.
It is the first municipality in Japan to do so.
Eighty-one groups are vying for the 1-percent contributions. They seek funding for diverse projects,
ranging from a program to raise welfare-service volunteers to a baseball course for kids and the
staging of a musical performance. One group on the list plans to hold a mah-jongg course for beginners.
Sometime this month, these groups will start canvassing, running ads in the municipal gazette or
appealing for support on the streets. Residents will choose which groups to support by early May.
Because Ichikawa is a city of about 460,000, 1 percent of its municipal tax revenue amounts to about
300 million yen. But many of its residents are so-called Chiba tomin-those who think of themselves
more as Tokyo citizens, although they live in Chiba Prefecture.
Naturally, they are scarcely interested in local affairs.
Taking this into consideration, officials at city hall predict that a modest one in every 10 citizens
will choose recipients for their tax contributions. In other words, they say, about 30 million yen will
be diverted from municipal coffers.
The final results of canvassing, to be announced in June, are a tossup.
While other municipalities are considering introducing similar systems, objections are already being
raised to the Ichikawa model. One critic argues, "The Ichikawa ordinance runs against the spirit of
equality under the law because it ignores the wishes of people who do not have any taxable income."
Another contends, "The municipal tax should be cut by 1 percent, instead."
As the central and local governments groan under debt exceeding 700 trillion yen, the prospect of sharp
tax hikes appears to be inevitable.
Now is a good time to rethink the balance between public services and the tax burden.
Hence, Ichikawa's new system that allows citizens to see where their tax money is going.
Although the new-found transparency is limited to 1 percent of citizen's municipal taxes, it is a
tiny but precious step forward.
The Asahi Shimbun, April 5(IHT/Asahi: April 6,2005)
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April 2009
News from Lithuania - Official data on 2 percent
February 2008
News from Lithuania - This year over 53.5 million Litas were designated through the percentage system
This year even more tax payers designated part of their tax for support.
January 2008, Vilnius. In the year 2007 more than 500 thousand citizens designated 2% of the
income tax paid for the year 2006, which means more than 53.5 million Litas.
Last year more than 47 million Litas were designated for support and charity. Then more than
471 thousand citizens designated 2% of their income tax.
This year in the Republic of Lithuania more than 12 thousand various civil organizations, funds and other units
(which have the right to receive this kind of support according to the charity and support law of the Republic of
Lithuania) will receive support. Last year support was received about 1.5 thousand units, which have the right to
receive support, less.
The biggest amount of money was given for support by citizens from the Vilnius region – more than 20,6 million
Litas – , from Kaunas – more than 10 million Litas. The input of Klaipeda citizens for support and charity
was almost 6 million Litas, from Siauliai region it was more than 4 million Litas, citizens of Panevezys region
designated more than 3.3 million Litas this year.
The biggest amount of money, the same as the last year, was remitted for the social organization ‘Lithuania
Polish Union’s’ Vilnius region department. This organization received more than 291 thousand Litas.
Citizens designated over 187 thousand Litas of their tax already paid for the Charity and support fund
‘Misfortunes Market’. This year the charity fund of Vilius city ‘Gabija high school community
center’ will receive almost 180 thousand Litas, public organisation Klaipeda Children Hospital more than
136 thousand Litas, public organization Klaipeda Academic Hospital over 120 thousand Litas.
This year citizens designated the biggest amount of money for:
- municipality organizations (dependent on municipality budget) (more than 18 million Litas were remitted);
- associations (about 16 million Litas);
- public organizations (about 7 million Litas);
- charity and support funds (about 4.1 million Litas);
- traditional religious communities and sodalities (more than 3 million Litas);
- governmental organizations (dependent on government budget) (more than 2.1 million Litas).
In 2002 the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania passed the correction of the Citizens income tax law, which gave
the opportunity for all Lithuania citizens who are working to designate up to 2% of their income tax that they
paid per year to any non profit organization. From that time when the law was changed and the instructions were
adopted no substantial changes connected with the designation system of 2% have been done. However, efforts to
improve this system, seeking to sophisticate the surrounding of NGO sector, were made every year, which presented
themselves in various public declarations for governmental institutions, in more than 10 legal projects registered
in Parliament and in a lot of other steps.
December 2006
News from Lithuania - Survey on the attitudes of Lithuanian population on the "2 percent law"
The Baltic - American Partnership Program in Lithuania (BAPP) conducted a survey on the attitudes
of the Lithuanian population regarding the 2 percent law. It was carried out in August and
September 2006, with 1019 respondents interviewed. You can read the report here.
Source: European Foundation Centre
October 2003
News from Lithuania - 2% transfers start in 2004. Massive public information
campaign planned
For the first time in 2004, taxpayers in Lithuania, when declaring their income for 2003, will
be able to allocate their 2% of paid tax to public benefit organisations (i.e. all public and
private non-profit entities that are entitled to receive tax-free charitable donations).
The NGO Information and Support Centre (NISC) in Vilnius is spearheading efforts to launch
a massive public information campaign with user-friendly information about the "2%" option.
NISC's Director, Vaidotas Ilgius reports Lithuania's philanthropy website (www.labdara-para.lt)
is now well advertised and the 2% issue is getting a lot of public attention with recent articles
in national press. Some ideas for the Lithuanian campaign come from Hungarian colleagues at
the Nonprofit Information and Training Centre (NIOK) in Budapest who have shared their
model and know-how from the Hungarian 1% Law's operation with their Lithuanian partner.
NIOK also provided help in the process that led to the 2% Law in Lithuania - see Assistance.
NISC's Director, Vaidotas Ilgius hopes that developments in Lithuania like the 2% Law will
encourage many more countries from Central and Eastern Europe to explore this instrument
of philanthropy development. But he concedes that adopting such laws is not an easy process
and there are drawbacks. Ilgius notes that it was quite a battle getting the 2% bill through
Parliament (finally passed as Lithuania's Private Income Tax Law which took effect on 1
January, 2003). NGO representatives began talks with the government about the 2% issue in
1999. In the original draft bill, the government proposed that 1% of taxes could be designated
to NGOs, but only to support organisations on a special list established by the government.
Ater the emailing of support letters by NGOs and several media events supporting NGOs'
demands, the third vote in Parliament - taken in 2002 - was positive and resulted in the
income tax provision described above.
On the other hand, Ilgius points out that "in exchange" for gaining the 2% option, Lithuanian
NGOs lost the traditional tax deduction for private philanthropists - an issue Lithuanian
NGOs are still hoping to resolve given that individual philanthropy accounts for only 0.13%
of total giving in Lithuania. A public opinion survey shows that the philanthropic behaviour
of Lithuanian citizens has not changed in the past six years - less than 12% of respondents
indicated that they have given to charity.
Vaidotas Ilgius is one of the experts who contributed to the Percentage Philanthropy study
published on this website.
Based on a longer article, "Lithuania speeds up Non-Profit Law Reform" by Vaidotas Ilgius,
Executive Director of the NGO Information and Support Centre (NISC), Vilnius, available on
www.nisc.lt/eng/legal_inf.php
For more information, contact Vaidotas Ilgius at NISC on tel: (370 5) 212-6045, fax: (370 2)
618-782, e-mail: ilgius@delfi.lt, info@nisc.lt.
Information (in Lithuanian) on Lithuania's 2% Law is available on Lithuania's philanthropy
portal, www.labdara-para.lt
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March 2007
News from Poland - Report on the conduct of the social campaign entitled 1 %m
Of Tax For Public Benefit Organisations - 2006
December 2006
News from Poland - Summary of 1% assignation system in 2006
In year 2006 number of taxpayers designation 1% of their income tax raised to 1 156 480,
which means 5,03% of taxpayers lived with the opportunity. Total amount received by public
benefit organisations was 62 332 000 PLN, and average amount given was 53 PLN.
Information was provided by Academy of Philanthropy from Poland.
As there will be changes in Polish working mechanism of 1% (referring to the amendment paper:
http://www.onepercent.hu/Dokumentumok/Poland_changes_in_mechanism.pdf), there were some
confusion about designation of 1 in Poland this year according to the article of www.ngo.pl:
There were some problems with finding the way of transferring 1% of our taxes to the public
benefit organizations. There were contradictory versions confusing both taxpayers and organizations.
Heres the final explanation.
In the present tax identification period (January 2007 till April 2007) the 1% mechanism in Poland
is based on the old rules. That means that a taxpayer has to calculate and transfer 1% of his or
her income tax to the account of chosen public benefit organization by him- or herself.
The amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax concern next tax year (tax identification period:
January till April 2008). These changes simplify the mechanism. The taxpayer will only have to choose
the organization (from the list published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy). Tax Office
will transfer the money straight to the NGOs account. Whats interesting, the amount given cannot
be less than 5 PLN.
June 2005
News from Poland - Summary of 1% assignation system in 2004
Ministry of Finance reported that the income of public benefit organizations within 1%
assignation system for the year 2004 is 41.041.000 zloty (app. 10.311.809 Euro). The money
collected in previous year 2003 (the first year of the system) was 10.305.000 zloty
(app. 2.589.195 Euro).
The number of taxpayers power to 1% tax designation in Poland in 2004 was 18.678.568,
but only 676.912 taxpayers designated 1% of their tax (in 2003 only 80.184 people).
The main reasons of such good result this year are:
- A big number of public benefit organizations registered for tax assignation - around 3340 organizations.
- Promotional campaign on 1% system conducted by the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy
in Poland in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Policy and daily "Rzeczpospolita", as well as
other campaigns organized by non-governmental organizations, media and PBOs itself.
The main beneficiaries of tax assignation for the year 2004.
| Name of PBO | Amount app. (in PLN) |
| Caritas | 5.078.391,34 |
| Polish Scout Organization | 1.415.077,55 |
| Polish Humanitarian Organization | 1.000.000 |
| Polsat Foundation | 750.000 |
| Stefan Batory Foundation | 325.370 |
| TVN "You are not alone" Foundation | 142.000 |
| Foundation of Disabled Children "Hope" | 70.000 |
| Itaka Foundation | 60.000 |
| Foundation "Heart for Children" | 15.000 |
| Nidzica Community Foundation | 11.000 |
January 2005
News from Poland - 1% option in Poland in 2004.
In Poland only those taxpayers who submitted their own annual income tax return (18,360,870
persons in 2003) and did not delegate this task (for example, to their employer) could use the
1% option.
Within the period of 1 January - 30 April 2004, 80.194 persons used 1% option (0,44% of taxpayers)
They transferred to the public benefit organizations 10.305.000 zlotys (c.a. 2.538.177 EURO).
The vast majority (94.73%) of 23,035,474 taxpayers were in the first tax bracket of 19% in the
year 20031. Only 4.11% were in the second bracket of 30%, while just 1.16% were in the highest
40% tax bracket.
Taxpayers in the first tax bracket of 19% transferred to public benefit organizations (PBOs)
546.000 zlotys (c.a.134.482 EURO), those in the second tax bracket of 30% transferred 2.303.000 zlotys
(c.a. 547.241 EURO) and the taxpayers in the third tax bracket of 40% transferred 7.456.000 zlotys
(c.a. 1.836.453 EURO).
The conclusion is that the richest group of taxpayers transferred nearly 3 times more money than the
first and the second group of taxpayers all together.
Here are the results of fundraising activities based on 1% option of some public benefit organizations:
- 2.547.552 zlotys collected by Caritas Polska
(other: Caritas Kielce - 115.000 zlotys, Caritas Gniezno 175.600 zlotys)
- 1 001 711,78 zlotys - Polish Scout Organizations
- 634.000 zlotys - Stefan Batory Foundation
- 100 894 zlotys - "Restaurare Basilicam" Foundation
- 81.000 zlotys - Atlas Charity Foundation
There is more that 2100 public benefit organizations registered at this moment.
Only 18 % of taxpayers declare they would like to use 1% option in 2005, 40% declare they will not
use it and 42% says how will they behave2.
Artur Ptak
1 Persons who declared their income for 2003.
2 Klon/Jawor Association and SMG/KRC study
November 2003
News from Poland - questions about Polish 1% system
The article that follows was written by Anna Sledzinska, Poland, currently carrying out research
on the Hungarian 1% Law at the Europa Institute in Budapest.
The primary intention of the Law on Public Benefit Activity and Voluntarism, adopted by the
Polish Parliament in April 2003, was to support the Polish third sector. In fact, the Law divides
the existing organisations into a group of future beneficiaries with the status of public benefit
organisations and organisations that will not gain certain privileges following from such status. It
is hoped that the inclusion of a Hungarian-type 1% system in the Polish Law will bring
measurable gains to public benefit organisations. However, the adoption of the Polish percentage
law seems to involve a trade-off with limitations to tax deductions of individual and corporate
donations currently being introduced.
In October 2003, the Polish Parliament approved a proposal to reduce the individual tax
deductions up to 350 PLZ (approximately 100 USD) for individuals (who at present are allowed
to deduct up to 15% of their annual income) and up to 10% of the taxable income for
corporations (currently up to 15%). Moreover, religious donations have been excluded from
deductible purposes. Most probably the Polish government assumes that such limitations of tax
preferences for donors would be compensated by the 1% system.
It should be noted that the Polish and Hungarian 1% systems differ substantially. The Polish
percentage law model stipulates that a taxpayer who makes a contribution between January 1 and
April 30 of the year following a taxable period to any of the registered public benefit
organisations can reduce up to 1% of the payable tax. This procedure more resembles Hungarian
tax credits for donations rather than the Hungarian 1% designation scheme. In Poland, it seems
that the incentives for donations have been mixed up with citizens' participation in the
distribution of public money. The results will only become clearer in 2005 once the Polish 1%
system is operational.
For further details, please contact Anna Sledzinska: sledzinskaanna@hotmail.com
More comment on the Polish Law on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteerism can be found in
an article "Trap for non-governmental organisations" written by Ewa Siedlecka in Gazeta
Wyborcza, 1 October, 2003, translated as part of the Percentage Philanthropy Project.
July 2003
News from Poland - 1% breakthrough.
Poland has become the latest country to adopt its own version of a 1% system allowing
individual taxpayers to transfer 1% of their personal income tax to public benefit
organisations (PBOs) of their choice.
According to Igor Golinski writing in SEAL, the new Polish law is very much based on the
experience of countries like Hungary and Slovakia. The Polish 1% system is similar to a
system of donations for social purposes that can be deducted up to a certain limit from a
person's income. The Polish law stipulates that the taxpayer is entitled to transfer 1% of his or
her taxes for the previous year between January 1 and April 30 of the following year. The
Polish government estimates that PBOs can receive 70 million euros this way.
The Polish 1% system is part of new landmark legislation on key Polish third sector issues,
the Law on Public Benefit Activities and Volunteerism adopted by the Polish Parliament at
the end of April 2003.
Based on Igor Golinski's article, Polish Parliament Adopts New Law on Public Benefit
Activities and Volunteerism, SEAL (Social Economy and Law Journal), Summer 2003, Vol. 6.
No.1 published by the European Foundation Centre. Also available on-line at
www.efc.be/cgi-bin/articlepublisher.pl?filename=IG-SE-06-03-1.html
The Polish Law on Public Benefit Activities and Volunteerism is also described on the website
of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law at
www.icnl.org/PRESS/20030509.htm and an English translation is available on ICNL's
website at www.icnl.org/library/cee/laws/polpubbenvolunt[eng].htm
Also see the article "Poland - A critique of the Act on Public Benefit Organisations and
Volunteerism" by Piotr Szczepanski in the International Journal of Civil Society Law at
www.law.cua.edu/students/orgs/ijcsl
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June 2010
News from Romania - The following dates regards the used of 2% for the financial year 2008
(this is the result of the campaign in 2009)
1.Tax payers
In 2009 the total amount of people who made use of 2% were 1.326.806.
This is a slight change of number comparing with the previous financial year 2008 when
we had 964 000 tax payers. This increase of people who used this legislation represent 17.18 %.
Every year we see an increase in number but not a very dramatic one.
2. Amount
The total amount redirected for 2008 was 26 million euros (109.756.460 RON), almost double
since last financial year 2007 when the amount was 12 million euros (48 millions RON).
This situation resembles very much with the previous year.
The major factor that can explain this is the increase of incomes and not so much by the
increase of 2% users although there is a slight increase of users too.
The average direction value increased form 15 EUR (50 RON) in 2007 up to 19.69 EURO (82.72 RON) in 2008.
This was one of the major factor of the total amount increase.
April 2009
News from Romania - The following dates regards the used of 2% for the financial year 2007
(this is the result of the campaign in 2008)
1.Tax payers
The total number of people who made used of 2 % legislation were 964 000 tax payers, as
we can see comparing with the previous financial year 2006 we have a 14% increase of people
who used this legislation (in the previous year 845.000 tax payers were direct the 2% in previous year)
2.Amount
The total amount redirected for 2007 was 12 million euros (48 millions RON) , almost double since
last financial year 2006 when the amount was 6 million euros (28 millions RON).
The major factor that can explain the increase of incomes and not so much by the increase of 2% users.
The average direction value increased form 9 EUR (30 RON) in 2006 up to 15 EUR (50 RON) in 2007.
This was one of the major factor of the total amount increase.
December 2006
News from Romania - "Where there are 2 (percent), there is more power"
The campaign in Romania 'Where there are 2 (percent), there is more power ' contained this
year research element with the objective of evaluation the impact of the 2% provision and
develop a set of policy and action recommendations based on the results of the evaluation.
Summary of findings can be read here.
March 2005
News from Romania - CEE Trust Awards Grant in Romania to Support 1% Campaign
The Trust for Civil Society in Central & Eastern Europe announces the award of a one-year
grant to the Association for Community Relations (ARC).
The grant in the amount of $100,000 will contribute to the implementation of the "All for one, one
percent for all" project.
The Project
The project aims to increase the Romanian taxpayers participation in funding of the non-profit
sector by making effective use of the 1% tax assignation allowing individual citizens to direct
1% of their individual income tax to NGOs of their choice. This new legislation is important for
citizens, government and NGOs: it allows government to redistribute public funds in a way that
improves civic responsibility, it gives citizens power over deciding how public funds are spent,
and offers NGOs a sustainable income.
ARC is planning to achieve the ambitious goals of the project by leading a national campaign promoting
the 1% tax assignation.
The objectives of the campaign are as follows:
- Increasing awareness of the provision at the level of taxpayers and employers;
- Improving capacity of NGOs to make use of the 1% tax assignation;
- Evaluating the impact of the application after the first year of using the 1% tax assignation.
Additionally, the project led by ARC encourages cross-sectoral cooperation and relationships between
the business sector, public administration and NGOs. The initiative also aims to increase public credibility
in the non-profit sector and intensify cooperation within the non-profit sector. The project is intended to
be inclusive and ARC will make efforts to encourage additional partners to join the initiative.
Within the framework of the project, ARC will create tools to provide taxpayers and NGOs with information
about 1% tax assignation (the website www.unulasuta.ro, hotline - a free access 1-800 type number, NGO
database and a national media and poster campaign). Additionally ARC is planning to organize regional
workshops and trainings for NGOs to help them to run their own 1% campaigns.
The CEE Trust in Romania
The CEE Trust is currently engaged in a strategic review process that was launched in 2004. This review
is mainly prospective and formative. Its purpose is to look at the strategic strength, cohesiveness, and
performance of the CEE Trust in order to help the Board and staff make decisions about future strategy.
The review covers the broad areas of: the (perceived) purpose and strategy of the CEE Trust; significant
contextual changes that impact on the future CEE Trust strategy; the role and focus of the CEE Trust in
relation to other funding streams; views on overall CEE Trust performance, approach, and culture; and
preliminary readings on the CEE Trust's added value and impact. The CEE Trust anticipates being able to
communicate any changes in the strategy and related activities and operations that arise from the review
process by late spring or summer 2005.
Once these broader decisions concerning the CEE Trust's strategic framework for future work in the region
have been taken, the CEE Trust will consider the scope and content of its future involvement in
Romania - including concrete objectives and activities.
In the mean time, the CEE Trust decided to provide exceptional support to the "All for one, one percent for
all" project - in view of the urgency of the issue; the opportunity to increase the impact of an ongoing
effort; and the inclusiveness of the initiative itself.
Source: www.ceetrust.org/news/99.html
March 17-19, 2005
News from Romania - Fundraising Form The Community Conference
One of major topics of the conference will be the 1% issue.
Please, see description of the conference.
In Romania another website has been launched for NGOs and taxpayers in Hungarian language.
Address is: www.egyszazalek.ro
February 2004
News from Romania - "All for one, one percent for all!" Campaign
"All for one, one percent for all!" Campaign
Most NGOs who intend to make use of the 1% provision have already started to prepare their
campaigns.
The Association for Community Relations (ARC) together with the American Chamber of Commerce
in Romania and the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society have recently started a
nationwide awareness campaign with the slogan "All for one, one percent for all!" aimed at
improving the capacity of NGOs to make effective use of the provision and informing taxpayers
about the benefits of this provision.
The campaign includes a website www.unulsuta.ro (the site has an English version as well) that
provides information on 1% for contributors, NGOs and employers, a downloadable 1% Campaign
Toolkit that addresses NGOs who want to develop campaigns, a series of regional workshops on 1%
for NGOs, a toll free telephone line for taxpayers and NGOs and a media campaign that will start
in March 2005.
In less than a month 2000 unique visitors have accessed the website, almost 700 NGOs have
downloaded the toolkit and over 50 NGOs have received support through email, telephone or meetings.
Further information
For further details on the 1% provision in Romania and the campaign, you can contact
Association For Community Relation in Romania by e-mail or by telephone.
+40 264 406 388
catalin@arcromania.ro
January 2005
News from Romania - 2% law starting 2006
1% or 2% in Romania?
In December 2003, The New Fiscal Code included the 1% provision for Romanian NGOs.
After the general elections in December 2004, the new Government amended the Fiscal Code as
part of a larger fiscal reform and increased the percentage at 2%.
This basically means that for the fiscal year 2004, NGOs can receive a 1%, but starting fiscal
year 2005 they can ask for 2% of income taxes.
How to designate?
In order to designate the 1% this year, taxpayers need to complete the Global Income Form and
send it to the Financial Administration.
The form can be easily downloaded from the Ministry of Finance site by those who wants to designate
1% to an NGO.
The deadline for assigning the 1% is 15 May 2005.
The deadline for NGOs to receive the money from the Financial Administration is December 31st 2005.
January 2004
News from Romania - New Tax Code brings 1% option for Romanians
Starting in 2005, Romanian citizens will be able to "donate" 1% of their income tax to the
NGO of their choice as stipulated in the new Tax Code, passed by the Romanian Parliament at
the end of 2003. Tax deductions will be applied for the year 2004 but the law will be
operational from the taxpayers' point of view in 2005 when they file their 2004 tax returns.
The implementation mechanisms will be established by the Ministry of Finance.
The proposal, initiated by Mona Musca MP of the National Liberal Party in August 2003, was
submitted to the Romanian Parliament in December. It had been preceded by a consultative
process with Romanian NGOs and with members of the Romanian government. The initiative
(initially aiming for a 2% deductible quantum), proposed as an amendment to the new Fiscal
Code, rallied support from more than 200 NGOs who signed a statement in favour of the idea.
On 8 December 2003 MPs who initiated the proposal presented and discussed it with the
Minister of Finance and about 40 NGOs in a debate hosted by the Open Society Foundation
(OSF) and the Civil Society Development Foundation, two organisations that have
spearheaded the NGO effort to promote and support the 1% model in Romania.
"Besides tightening the links between NGOs and their constituencies, this new fiscal
legislation might also increase awareness about how public spending serves citizens' diverse
and equally legitimate interests. By comparing the transparent and accountable management
practices of NGOs that defend citizens' rights or promote their concerns, on one hand, to the
still obscure and wasteful ways taxpayers' money are handled by the state system on the
other, the Romanian citizen will hopefully become more involved in actively pressing for
governmental accountability", said OSF's Radu Motoc, Co-ordinator for Open Society
Campaigns' Program.
According to Carmen Epure, Executive Director of the Civil Society Development
Foundation, "For organisations this proposal represents both an important opportunity and a
responsibility. The adopted legislation reflects the concern of the non-profit sector to identify
self-sustainability mechanisms".
Information provided by Raluca Negulescu, Program Co-ordinator, CENTRAS (Centrul de
Asistenta pentru Organizatii Neguvernamentale) Bucharest, tel: +4021 - 211 4815;
Fax: +4021-211 6040; email: raluca@centras.ro; www.centras.ro
October 2003
News from Romania - 2% law initiative in the air?
The benefits of having a "2% law" in Romania were discussed at a seminar organised by the
Friederich Naumann Foundation on 12-13 September 2003 in Sinaia. Participants at the
seminar included representatives of NGOs, trade unions and professional associations.
Discussions focused on addressing participants' concerns about the decreasing level of funds
available to civil society organisations and the political nature of access mechanisms of those
resources that are available.
Among the various funding solutions proposed, the seminar's conclusions note a 2%
mechanism, that allows taxpayers to direct 2% of their income tax to NGOs serving the
community, would help create a direct link between taxpayers and NGOs, and would also
contribute to NGOs' greater financial and political independence.
The Parliamentary Group of the National Liberal Party plans to draft law proposals in
consultation with civil society representatives and to circulate these for discussion ahead of
the 2004 general election.
See seminar conclusions, published by the Parliamentary Group of the National Liberal
Party. For further details, please contact Horia Terpe, political adviser on horiaterpe@yahoo.com
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December 2009
News from Slovakia - Changes to the 2% law in Slovakia
In Slovakia the 2 % law for companies has being discussed and changes are planned for the % law
as well as some other laws regulating NGO income sources.
Milan Andrejkovic of 1st Slovak Non profit Service Center has summariezed some of the ongoing changes.
/CEE TRUST/
February 2008
News from Slovakia - Milan Andrejkovic: 2% in Slovakia 2007
February 2008
News from Slovakia - Main data of percentage designations in Slovakia, 2002-2006
November 2007
News from Slovakia - The changes in the Slovakian percentage designation 2002-2007
December 2006
News from Slovakia - Percentage Assignation in Slovakia with Changes
On December 6, Slovak Parliament approved the amendments to the Income Tax Law affecting mechanism
of tax assignation for designated non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The minimum amount of 2% income tax from private entities (individuals) that can be designated was
increased from 20 to 100 Slovak crowns (SKK), this amendment becomes effective from 2007. In case of
legal entities criteria for their assignation were not affected.
The next amendment becomes effective from 2008 and it limits the list of recipients since 2 % could
be designated only to the NGOs active in the following areas:
- protection and support of health,
- support of childrens sporting activities,
- social care,
- and preservation of cultural values.
NGOs working for human rights protection, environmental protection or education are not eligible for
designation of 2 % income tax according to the Slovak Parliament.
According to the approved amendments in the Income Tax Law, NGOs also loose the option not to pay the
tax for the first 300,000 SKK coming from their business activities.
September 2006
News from Slovakia - There are much debated changes in Slovakia about percentage legislation
NGOs formed coalitions to be involved in dialogues with public administration and parliament to reach
less restrictive drawbacks on the system. Deadline is 5th December, when Income tax law will be in
parliament for the final reading.
You can find opinion of NGOs about the planned changes in the downloadable document.
September 2005
News from Slovakia - Analysis of 2% tax assignation of legal entities and their impact
upon the inter-sector cooperation after the first year (2005)
Assignation of a 2% income tax of legal entities has a significant impact upon cooperation
between the business entities and the non-governmental non-profit organizations. In order to
quantify the volume of means, which got to the NGOs in 2004 through this mechanism, and to find
out how this institute influences mutual functioning of these entities, what changes in the
companies' philanthropic behaviour can be observed, we contracted an analysis of the assignation
of the 2% income tax of legal entities. The analysis was done by the 1st Slovak Non-profit Service
Center (1st SNSC). The second part of the analysis - discussions with 53 representatives of mid-sized
companies with 20 - 250 employees - was done by FOCUS - Center for Social and Marketing Analysis -
from 26 April till 13 May 2005.
Conclusions from the survey to 2 % from companies
2% tax assignation of legal entities (final report)
File above requires Adobe Acrobat you can download here
August 2005
News from Slovakia - 2% income tax assignation - current numbers, new statistics.
Approximately 430,300 submissions of 2% income tax assignation declarations are being registered
by the Slovak Tax Headquarters by July 31, 2005. Out of that, 13,700 declarations were submitted
by corporate bodies, 416,600 by individuals.
Total assigned sum represents an amount of 878,392,396 SKK, out of that 579,393,111 SKK was
assigned by corporate bodies and 298,999,285 SKK by individuals.
The Slovak Tax Headquarters transferred assigned total amount of 2% income tax to the respective
bank accounts of 5,746 NGOs, which are being registered in the List of Recipients for the year 2005.
The List of Recipients is released at the web site www.rozhodni.sk.
In the year 2004, only 3 829 organizations were registered in the List of Recipients, and in 2003
it was even less by 431 subjects.
In 2004, corporate bodies were given the opportunity to assign 2% income tax to selected recipients
for the first time. 8 364 corporate bodies and 402 057 individuals took a chance and supported
selected recipients. Almost 276 millions SKK from 2% individual income tax and 569 millions of 2%
corporate income (altogether representing amount exceeding 845 millions SKK) was transferred to
the recipients´ accounts.
The average amount of assignation for one recipient in the year 2004 represents the sum of almost
221,000 SKK. In the previous year (2003), the average amount for one recipient was only 28,567 SKK.
Robert Merva
spokesman
The Slovak Tax Headquarters
January 2005
News from Slovakia - In 2004 Slovak NGOs gain more than 22 millions Euro
from 2% system
On January 31, 2005 Tax Directorate announced the final sum that was dedicated by
individuals and companies to NGOs within the 2 % assignation system in 2004. The total
sum is 845,222,347 SKK (approx. 22,242,693 EUR).
According to the calculations made by First Slovak Non-profit Service Centre
individuals used this chance at level of 40 % ( percentage to the total sum that was
available). In case of corporations more than 90 % from the total sum was assigned.
In comparison to 2003 the sum received by NGOs in 2004 increased enormously -
from 97,070, 228 SKK to 845,222,347 SKK. The main reasons are:
- the increase from 1 % to 2 % assignation and
- companies have also chance to dedicate 2 % from 2004
Increase of potential sum that NGOs can obtain from 1 % also affected number of NGOs
registered for 2 % assignation. In 2004 there were 3829 NGOs, for this year /2005/
there are 5770 organizations that will compete for approx. 1.1 billion SKK.
Overview of the TOP 10 beneficiaries in previous years:
2004
| |
| Name of the NGO | Received sum in (SKK) |
| | |
| Nadácia SPP | 109 700 784 |
| Zdruenie pre podporu ortopédie a rehabilitácie | 58 505 250 |
| Nadácia Pontis | 19 932 652 |
| Stredoeurópska nadácia | 19 695 644 |
| Liga proti rakovine SR | 19 305 446 |
| Konto Orange, n.f. | 16 156 040 |
| MEDICAL - NADÁCIA | 11 788 429 |
| Nadácia MARKÍZA | 11 471 084 |
| Slovenská rada rodičovských zdruení | 8 881 167 |
| Slovenský olympijský výbor | 7 673 332 |
| | |
2003
| |
| Name of the NGO | Received sum in (SKK) |
| | |
| Liga proti rakovine SR | 3 978 215 |
| Univerzita Komenského n.f. | 1 139 182 |
| Spoločnos detskej onkológie Koice | 1 021 053 |
| Univerzita Trenčín | 957 420 |
| Slovenská rada Rodičovských zdruení | 928 789 |
| SLOBODA ZVIERAT | 837 446 |
| Nadácia Výskum rakoviny | 767 954 |
| Nadácia detské kardiocentrum | 729 514 |
| Nadácia LEUKÉMIE | 503 310 |
| Nadácia eleziarne Podbrezová | 480 016 |
| | |
2002
| |
| Name of the NGO | Received sum in (SKK) |
| | |
| LIGA PROTI RAKOVINE | 3 631 760 |
| Zdruenie na pomoc detskej onkológie | 2 516 847 |
| Univerzita Komenského n.f. | 1 115 219 |
| Spoločnos detskej onkológie Koice | 1 050 281 |
| Nadácia Výskum rakoviny | 925 936 |
| Sloboda zvierat | 861 147 |
| Univerzita n.o. | 791 044 |
| Spiská katolícka charita v Spiskej Novej Vsi | 627 566 |
| Asociácia súkromných lekárov SR | 606 535 |
| NADÁCIA ZSNP | 498 046 |
| | |
| Overview of sums received by NGOs from % assignation: |
| 2002: | 101 882 272 SKK |
| 2003: | 97 070 228 SKK |
| 2004: | 845 222 347 SKK |
| | |
| Number of registered NGOs for % assignation: |
| for 2002: | 4035 |
| for 2003: | 3369 |
| for 2004: | 3829 |
| for 2005: | 5770 |
Further information:
1. Slovak Non-profit Service Centre
Phone: +421-2-50 248 281
e-mail: andrejkovic@rozhodni.sk
www.rozhodni.sk
January 2004
News from Slovakia - new 2% provision for both individual taxpayers and companies
From 2004 onwards both Slovak individual and corporate taxpayers will be able to assign up
to 2% of their tax liability to NGOs registered to receive such funds.
Speaking at the Percentage Philanthropy Conference in January 2004, Arpád Lőrincz,
Director of the First Slovak Nonprofit Service Centre said that the changes are the result
of the Slovak government's wider package of radical fiscal reforms which introduced a new
flat tax rate of 19% for personal income tax, corporate tax and VAT in Slovakia. The
government's initial proposals foresaw the abolition of Slovakia's percentage system and
also of tax allowances for donations by individuals and companies.
A campaign by Slovak NGOs supported by several political parties saved the percentage
system, but not tax allowances for donations. By way of compensation the government agreed
to increase the percentage level from 1% to 2%. Calculations presented by Arpád Lőrincz at
the Percentage Philanthropy Conference showed that the new 2% system does not fully
compensate for the loss of tax allowances on donations. Nevertheless, Slovak NGOs have high
expectations about the potential income from the new "2% from companies". In Arpád Lőrincz's
view, the new system raises a number of questions one of which is how successfully NGOs can
tap into company networks, and it may be that some companies decide to support their own
foundations. The implications and results of the "2% from companies" will only be known in
one or two years' time.
Slovakia is the only country in Central and Eastern Europe with legislation permitting
companies to allocate a portion of their tax liability to NGO beneficiaries. Initially adopted at
the level of 1%, this innovative scheme will start in 2004 at the new 2% amount of the previous
year's declared corporate tax.
In 2002 and 2003 individuals in Slovakia had the opportunity to assign 1% of their
previous year's paid personal income tax to an eligible NGO. In the first year of the 1%
scheme's operation taxpayers chose to assign 97.7 million Slovak koruny (around 2.3 million
euros) to 4,043 NGOs, out of the estimated 300 million Slovak koruny (roughly 7.2 million
euros), the total amount the 1% option could provide if fully utilised. NGOs serving public
benefit goals qualify for the scheme if they meet certain requirements and register at a public
notary's office. In 2002 one third of the taxpayers participating in the scheme supported
NGOs working in the field of health, 20% selected NGOs working in the field of education,
and 4% gave their 1% amounts to environmental NGOs.
Árpád Lőrincz is one of the experts who contributed to the Percentage Philanthropy study
available on this website.
More details on the Slovak 1% scheme can be found under Key Documents, Slovakia on this
website or on www.rozhodni.sk.
Information on the results of the 1% scheme in 2002 appeared in "Slovak 1% Law brings
over 2 million euros to NGOs" by Matus Minárik, Programme Associate, Trust for Civil
Society in Central and Eastern Europe published in SEAL (Social Economy and Law), Winter
2002-2003 (European Foundation Centre).
October 2003
News from Slovakia - Information in English now available on www.rozhodni.sk
A selection of key documents on Slovakia's 1% system is now available in English on
www.rozhodni.sk thanks to the Percentage Philanthropy Project managed by the Nonprofit
Information and Training Centre (NIOK), Budapest. As part of efforts to make as much
information as possible available on percentage law systems in Central and Eastern Europe,
NIOK offered to support the translation work as part of the Philanthropy Percentage Project
financed by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. The translated documents are also available on
this website - see Key Documents, Slovakia.
The Slovak documents were kindly made available by the First Slovak Nonprofit Service
Centre and the Forum Information Centre.
For more details, contact Jana Kadlecová on kadlecova@rozhodni.sk or see
www.rozhodni.sk. The services provided by Rozhodni website are described in the news item below.
July 2003
News from Slovakia - Rozhodni: Slovak language website devoted to 1% giving
"Rozhodni" means "decide" and www.rozhodni.sk is a Slovak language website devoted to
encouraging taxpayers to assign 1% of their paid income tax to NGOs in Slovakia. The
website offers comprehensive information on all 1% related issues including:
- legislation and regulations
- users' guides for taxpayers and employers
- users' guide for NGOs including registration requirements (1% beneficiaries must
register in advance to qualify as recipients)
- online consultation and replies to FAQs
- database of registered NGOs
- database of 1% amounts received by NGOs the previous year
- samples of forms for taxpayers wishing to assign 1 % of their paid income tax.
Set up by the Forum Information Centre and the First Slovak Nonprofit Service Centre, this
website service has operated since autumn 2001 and is regularly updated. The website is a
part of the general public awareness programme in Slovakia, "1% for a better life" which is
realised thanks to the support of various donors including the Open Society Foundation, Trust
Programme, Istropolitana D´Arcy advertising agency and media partners.
Based on information provided by Jana Kadlecová. For more details see www.rozhodni.sk or
contact kadlecova@rozhodni.sk
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April 2005
News from Switzerland - Initiative of introducing the percentage system in Switzerland
The article below describes the initiative of introducing the percentage system in Switzerland.
The article is both in German language and English language.
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Archive:
Presentations about the Hungarian 1% Law and the Percentage Philanthropy Project in
2004
30 May, 2004 15th Annual general Assembly and Conference, Athens
Session: Encouraging Individual Giving: Effective
Legal-Fiscal Mechanisms in the New Europe
Presentation by Marianna Török - NIOK, Budapest;
Vaidotas Ilgius - NISC, Vilnius; Nilda Bullain - ECNL, Budapest
12-13 March, 2004 Working meeting of leading Romanian NGOs to discuss the proposed
operating mechanism for the new Romanian 1% Law, organised by the
National Liberal Party, Romania
Presentation by Anikó Porkoláb, NIOK (Budapest)
Hungary's 1% Law
29 January, 2004 Meeting Point 2004 Approach to Successful Fundraising, Association
SPIRALIS, Prague, Czech Republic
Presentation by Anikó Porkoláb, NIOK (Budapest)
Hungary's 1% Law
Presentations about the Hungarian 1% Law and the Percentage Philanthropy
Project in 2003
6 September, 2003 Annual Meeting of NGOs, Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations (NENO)
Tallin, Estonia
Presentation by Marianna Török, Director, NIOK (Budapest)
The 1% Law in Hungary and the Percentage Philanthropy Project
31 May, 2003 Community Philanthropy Initiative, European Foundation Centre
Lisbon, Portugal
Presentation by Marianna Török, Director, NIOK (Budapest)
Percentage Philanthropy Project
22-23 May, 2003 Towards stronger partnerships in an enlarged Europe
European Council for Voluntary Organisations' Conference
Warsaw, Poland
Presentation by Anikó Porkoláb, NIOK (Budapest)
The 1% Law in Hungary
5 May, 2003 ERMACISZA, Annual meeting of Hungarian NGOs of Transylvania.
Kolozsvár (Cluj -Napoca) , Romania
Presentation by Balázs Gerencsér, Deputy Director, NIOK (Budapest)
How can the 1% Law help the professional management of NGOs?
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