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We've been seeking official clarification from Google on this for over a month. That's what we're seeking here. It's not clear given Google's policy wording an

We've been seeking official clarification from Google on this for over a month. That's what we're seeking here. It's not clear given Google's policy wording and replies. We've removed the links, and can move forward once clarification has been provided.

dataflow 18d ago
Their emails are confusing, but they came after the alleged violation in private communication, not what you were going from at the time of the alleged violation. If you ignore them momentarily (surely you understand they probably aren't as well-scrutinized by lawyers, which would explain why they appear to mistakenly refer to the tax status of the recipient rather than that of the donation), is anything else actually confusing or inconsistent? Their policies, the relevant laws, and what common sense would have you expect - they seem pretty cut and dried. Are they inconsistent with anything other than their emails, which came after the fact? From another angle: why/how do you feel the tax-exempt-mess of the recipient itself could sensibly be the determining factor here, rather than the taxability of the transaction itself? Is there any law or precedent or anything outside their emails that would suggests a payment processor should look at the tax status of the recipient rather than that of a transaction?
- fwip 18d ago
  Aren't donations untaxed?
  - dataflow 18d ago
    > Aren't donations untaxed? I don't know every jurisdiction, but that's not the only relevant factor. If they are tax-deductible, they still introduce the need for paperwork etc. for the payment processor to let the payer deduct it from their own income. A 0% tax on some action doesn't imply you don't have to worry about tax law when performing said action. Though I think you can just read the policy and take it at face value and not even have to know any of this beforehand.
    - thayne 18d ago
      But the complaint isn't that Google won't process the payment. It's that they won't allow them to link to an OpenCollective donation page, and presumably OpenCollective would handle anything like that.
    - lokar 17d ago
      That’s not true. If a donation is tax deductible that’s just between the IRS, the recipient and the donor. The payment processor, banks, etc don’t do anything special.
      - dataflow 17d ago
        So I'm only a layperson and don't know what is strictly legally required, but my understanding (based on reading/third-hand information) is that payment processors do in practice end up with more work to do for this, whatever the reason. Quoting from [1]: > Nonprofits have strict tax regulations when accepting donations. The more a payment processing system can assist with these regulations, the better for you and your donors. For instance, donors need to receive specific documentation for tax-deductible contributions, such as donation receipts. Additionally, different types of donations may involve different tax considerations for the donor and the organization. Nonprofits also have to consider any state and federal regulations regarding their charitable solicitation and fundraising activities, which may vary depending on location and activities. And there's of course also exemption from sales tax which they have to handle too. [1] https://www.subsplash.com/blog/nonprofit-payment-processing#tax-compliance https://www.subsplash.com/blog/nonprofit-payment-processing#...
        lokar 15d ago
        Sure, but that’s still a problem of their own making. These people don’t want to use them to process the payment. They just want to link to their own web page.
      - deleted 17d ago
        [deleted]
j16sdiz 18d ago
Google's policy wording is clear. It is just you don't like what is written.

dataflow 18d ago

Their emails are confusing, but they came after the alleged violation in private communication, not what you were going from at the time of the alleged violation. If you ignore them momentarily (surely you understand they probably aren't as well-scrutinized by lawyers, which would explain why they appear to mistakenly refer to the tax status of the recipient rather than that of the donation), is anything else actually confusing or inconsistent? Their policies, the relevant laws, and what common sense would have you expect - they seem pretty cut and dried. Are they inconsistent with anything other than their emails, which came after the fact? From another angle: why/how do you feel the tax-exempt-mess of the recipient itself could sensibly be the determining factor here, rather than the taxability of the transaction itself? Is there any law or precedent or anything outside their emails that would suggests a payment processor should look at the tax status of the recipient rather than that of a transaction?

fwip 18d ago
Aren't donations untaxed?
- dataflow 18d ago
  > Aren't donations untaxed? I don't know every jurisdiction, but that's not the only relevant factor. If they are tax-deductible, they still introduce the need for paperwork etc. for the payment processor to let the payer deduct it from their own income. A 0% tax on some action doesn't imply you don't have to worry about tax law when performing said action. Though I think you can just read the policy and take it at face value and not even have to know any of this beforehand.
  - thayne 18d ago
    But the complaint isn't that Google won't process the payment. It's that they won't allow them to link to an OpenCollective donation page, and presumably OpenCollective would handle anything like that.
  - lokar 17d ago
    That’s not true. If a donation is tax deductible that’s just between the IRS, the recipient and the donor. The payment processor, banks, etc don’t do anything special.
    - dataflow 17d ago
      So I'm only a layperson and don't know what is strictly legally required, but my understanding (based on reading/third-hand information) is that payment processors do in practice end up with more work to do for this, whatever the reason. Quoting from [1]: > Nonprofits have strict tax regulations when accepting donations. The more a payment processing system can assist with these regulations, the better for you and your donors. For instance, donors need to receive specific documentation for tax-deductible contributions, such as donation receipts. Additionally, different types of donations may involve different tax considerations for the donor and the organization. Nonprofits also have to consider any state and federal regulations regarding their charitable solicitation and fundraising activities, which may vary depending on location and activities. And there's of course also exemption from sales tax which they have to handle too. [1] https://www.subsplash.com/blog/nonprofit-payment-processing#tax-compliance https://www.subsplash.com/blog/nonprofit-payment-processing#...
      - lokar 15d ago
        Sure, but that’s still a problem of their own making. These people don’t want to use them to process the payment. They just want to link to their own web page.
    - deleted 17d ago
      [deleted]

j16sdiz 18d ago

Google's policy wording is clear. It is just you don't like what is written.