It is a decision with serious financial consequences: The tax authorities have denounced the campaign organization Campact as a charitable organization.
This decision was made in writing by the Berlin tax office for corporations after reviewing the years 2015 to 2017, Campact said. The move was hardly surprising for the non-governmental organization: at the end of February, the Federal Finance Court had already revoked the non-profit status of Attac, a network critical of globalization.
In the case of Campact it was said by the tax office, the organization had been mainly active in general policy. Campact had carried out campaigns on topics that could not be assigned to any charitable purpose of the Tax Code. In the tax assessment for 2016, the authority states that this is not political education either: "The focus was not on information about political processes, but rather on influencing them."
Association has to pay 300,000 euros gift tax
The decision means that supporters can no longer deduct their donations to Campact. Campact CEO Felix Kolb called this "a fatal sign": The commitment of people who argue with Campact "for climate protection and against right on the street", so "not devalued and degraded as non-profit," said Kolb.
According to Kolb Campact, the amount of around 300,000 euros in gift tax has been paid in recent years. However, he was optimistic that the donors remained loyal to the organization. Since the Attac verdict, Campact has issued no precautionary donation certificates. The club is located in Berlin and Verden.
The Berlin Senate Department for Finance did not want to confirm or comment on the step with reference to tax secrecy.