Talk:Nonprofit organization

Tax exemption not universal
Hi, the lead currently says, "Nonprofits are tax-exempt or charitable, meaning they do not pay income tax on the money that they receive for their organization."

As already can be gathered from the details about several countries further in the article, this is not necessarily the case. At least not in the EU where VAT exemption is not based on the non-profit status of the organization, but on the activity for which they may charge money. Note that 'non-profit' is not necessarily the same as charitable either, because associations set up to help the members exercise their hobby (like sports associations) may not be considered as an organization aiming at the 'public good', even though they are nonprofit as well, using all their money for the activities (or for reverving money for future expenses).

Some years ago, the English Bridge Union (EBU) started a legal procedure against their against government to get tax exemption, but in 2017, the European Court of Justice ruled that bridge is not to be exempt of VAT, although the EBU is a nonprofit organization. Rather awkward that they came to this decision just before the Brits pulled out of the EU, because now other countries like the Netherlands (where mind sports, contrary to the UK, were already exempt of VAT) had to change their rules. The Dutch ministry of Finance is still thinking about a tax exemption on the ground that mind sport is not only a sport but also a social-cultural activity.

But anyway, some governments may get money from nonprofit organizations, so the quoted sentence in the lead is not correct. Bever (talk) 22:04, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Incomplete list?
As of the Latest revision as of 13:46, 23 May 2020 version of this article, there is a sentence (the last sentence of the first paragraph of the article) that says "They can operate in religious, scientific, research, or educational settings."

Perhaps the little "list" in that sentence was not intended to be exhaustive, or perhaps there is some other explanation for why that little "list" does not seem to include an entry that would include words such as "benevolent", "humanitarian", and/or "philanthropical". That (or, those) would [also] exemplify the kind of nonprofit organization that most of the people I know, would consider to be "charitable".

Maybe not all nonprofit organizations have to be "charitable". Fine. But, IMHO, the kinds of nonprofit organizations that are charitable are well-known, and are notable, and are probably important to mention.

So, in my opinion, that sentence should be changed, to say [something more like]"They often act to promote benevolent / humanitarian (philanthropical) purposes, whether or not they are operating in a religious, scientific, research, or educational setting."

Any comments? --Mike Schwartz (talk) 11:21, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

Nonprofit versus not-for-profit
The claimed distinction between these two terms is not generally accepted. I would say they are interchangeable. Am I wrong? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mastimido (talk • contribs) 11:43, 18 October 2020 (UTC)

The distinction seems to exist in IRS regulations in the United States, with the two categories covered under different sections of rules about 501(c)(3) organizations. I doubt the same distinction exists in other countries. Dimadick (talk) 18:14, 19 October 2020 (UTC)

Digital
digital future Almjmb237 (talk) 14:23, 14 November 2020 (UTC)