Donations and contributions to recognised charitable foundations and organisations are tax deductible under section 10b of the German Income Tax Act.
Issuing the donation receipt
Issuing and posting donation receipts for the annual membership subscription and for individual donations costs a considerable amount in printing, postage and envelopes. We would rather spend that on the library. Therefore:
For amounts up to €300* the simplified proof of donation applies (§ 50 para. 2 no. 2b EStDV) for a charitable body. No individual receipt is issued or posted.
For amounts over €300* we are glad to issue a donation receipt and to send it on request.
Donation receipts and how much is deductible
Donations to charitable organisations can be claimed with the tax office as special expenses, and so set against tax, up to 20 per cent of total income, or up to 4 per thousand of the sum of total turnover and the wages and salaries paid in the calendar year.
Deductible donations that exceed the maximum, or that cannot be taken into account in the year they are made, may be carried forward to the following year and claimed as special expenses (§ 10b para. 1 sentence 1 EStG).
Simplified proof of donation, without a receipt
Donations up to €300* to a charitable body can be submitted to the tax office without an official donation receipt, using the booking confirmation and a simplified proof of donation (§ 50 para. 2 no. 2b EStDV).
The booking confirmation must show the name and account number, or another identifying feature, of both payer and recipient, the amount, the booking date and that the payment was actually made. For online banking, the printout must contain the name and account number of payer and recipient, the amount and the booking date.
For donations by PayPal, a statement of the PayPal account together with a printout of the transaction details is sufficient as a booking confirmation. The statement must show the account holder and their email address.
Our simplified proof of donation can be downloaded here: