| Index | Recent Threads | Unanswered Threads | Who's Active | Guidelines | Search |
 |
World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: Suggestions / Feedback
Thread: tax deductible donation? |
| No member browsing this thread |
|
Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 33
|
|
| Author |
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Hello,
I've contributed almost 13 cpu years so far to this project and I like it a lot. Is it possible to get a certificate for this contribution from IBM that shows that it is a donation and makes it tax deductible? I'm talking about Europe in my personal case, but I think many people would like this. |
|||
|
||||
|
Sekerob
Ace Cruncher Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Post Count: 20043 Status: Offline |
This questions get's asked so often, it's surprising there is no FAQ or Help item on this, but the answer is no. A certificate type document is in development and what will it say? How much watts of electricity consumed and what time span? CPU years... is it the same from an 8 core as from a 1 core? Tflops, from a monster or from a P2? Impossible and don't think you'll find an inspector agreeing, anywhere. But, if you've found one or the tax jurisprudence to cover this, we're all ears how to measure this.
----------------------------------------
WCG
Please help to make the Forums an enjoyable experience for All! |
||
|
|
Sid2
Senior Cruncher USA Joined: Jun 12, 2007 Post Count: 259 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
This questions get's asked so often, it's surprising there is no FAQ or Help item on this, but the answer is no. A certificate type document is in development and what will it say? How much watts of electricity consumed and what time span? CPU years... is it the same from an 8 core as from a 1 core? Tflops, from a monster or from a P2? Impossible and don't think you'll find an inspector agreeing, anywhere. But, if you've found one or the tax jurisprudence to cover this, we're all ears how to measure this. I believe this topic needs a whole lot of discussion. With the expense of broadband, electricity to run it, more electricity to run a/c, and in investment in hardware that becomes obsolete boat anchors in 3-4 years, the expenses to participate in these projects is substantial. Some of the members on my team are cringing from the utility bills, last summer, I had my first $300 month ever. . . . I come from an IBM family and I know that it writes every last dime possible. . . . .  |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
It's not a need for discussion we lack, or even agreement.
The problem is that World Community Grid is not a charity, and in nearly all jurisdictions, this is the test of what can or cannot be a charitable donation for tax purposes. So, in the end, it has nothing to do with quantifying the electricity used or the value of the donation. |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
It's not a need for discussion we lack, or even agreement. The problem is that World Community Grid is not a charity, and in nearly all jurisdictions, this is the test of what can or cannot be a charitable donation for tax purposes. So, in the end, it has nothing to do with quantifying the electricity used or the value of the donation. We better start protesting to change the governments mind then :O lol, i seriously wish they would make it tax deductible, but i don't think it get a major amount of consideration especially from the paranoids. |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
do a search on tax deduction and see what you find in the fourms here.
It's been discussed many times. I won't share my personal thinking; comments or observations on the topic. |
||
|
|
Greg Lyke
Advanced Cruncher Joined: May 30, 2008 Post Count: 50 Status: Offline |
I just typed out a response that took quite a while to compose. Reading over it when I was done, I noticed that it was even more confusing to read than an actual tax code. Suffice it to say though that it all boiled down to too much administration/calculation/record keeping needed for too small a return.
Grid computing is not supposed to be the primary purpose of any computer, it is only supposed to run (in theory anyway) when the computer isn't doing whatever it was installed to do in the first place. If you have a computer set up to only run WCG & are constantly tweaking it to get the maximum work out of it, you have a hobby rather than the original idea. That's not a bad thing (I have 3 computers doing just that at the moment), but in general hobbies aren't tax deductable. So in the end it would be too much work for the too few people who would actually take the deduction (which would probably only be a small one anyway based upon a percentage of electricity used). It's probably better to think of your donated time/equipment/money as going to help find a cure for something that you hope you never get. Preventative medicine as it were... |
||
|
|
Sid2
Senior Cruncher USA Joined: Jun 12, 2007 Post Count: 259 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
Grid computing is not supposed to be the primary purpose of any computer, it is only supposed to run (in theory anyway) when the computer isn't doing whatever it was installed to do in the first place. In the real world, I believe it would be a reasonable estimate that 2% of the crunchers do 95% of the crunching. With as hosed up as our tax code is, it would seem that there could be some relief for those 2%. If you have a computer set up to only run WCG & are constantly tweaking it to get the maximum work out of it, you have a hobby rather than the original idea. That's not a bad thing (I have 3 computers doing just that at the moment), but in general hobbies aren't tax deductable. People who do volunteer work can write off car expenses and meals. . . not all that much different. |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
didn't seti offer something similar a few years ago?
----------------------------------------[Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Jul 14, 2009 7:58:55 PM] |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
In the real world, I believe it would be a reasonable estimate that 2% of the crunchers do 95% of the crunching. I was curious about this claim, so I ran the numbers. There are currently a little over 100 000 active crunchers. The top 2% (2 000 members) produced 47.6% of yesterday's output. But that's not the end of the story. The top 1% produced 38.9%, the top 0.1% produced 20.5%, and the top 0.01% produced 10.3%. All of the top 0.01% (10 members) are corporate or academic contributors. Calculating the top 2% of individual contributors is much more difficult. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Jul 14, 2009 9:23:48 PM] |
||
|
|
|