nlnet.mdwn

   1 # NLNet
   2
   3 With many thanks to <http://nlnet.nl> there are six inter-related grants,
   4 documented at the [[nlnet_proposals]] page.
   5
   6 NLNet is a Foundation and so does not have employees or enter into "work
   7 for hire" agreements.  It also will not give money to Corporations
   8 (or, it will, but at a rate which does not include payment of Corporation
   9 insurance, tax etc.): only to Universities, individuals, and other
  10 Foundations.
  11
  12 They have an extremely knowledgeable International Tax Law specialist
  13 who has negotiated tax agreements with most countries in the world and
  14 consequently, subject to your Accountant checking with the law in your
  15 country, donations - and they are charitable donations - are extremely
  16 likely to be 100% tax-deductible.
  17
  18 The process is as follows:
  19
  20 * Proposals are submitted, reviewed, independently audited and (sometimes)
  21   approved.
  22 * Accepted proposals submit a Project Plan listing a set of milestones,
  23   each of which has a fixed budget associated with it (note: not an
  24   hourly rate!)
  25 * The Project Plan becomes part of a Memorandum of Understanding, signed
  26   by the team (note: not a contract!)
  27 * On 100% completion of tasks *or subtasks* (which must add up ultimately
  28   to the total allocated budget) after approval by the project leader,
  29   an rfp (Request for Payment) is submitted by email to nlnet.
  30 * The rfp is paid directly by bank transfer from NLNet
  31   *not by the Libre-SOC project*
  32
  33 Note that the lack of hourly rate and the lack of contractual obligation
  34 is what enables this to be considered charitable donations (and why
  35 Corporations may not be paid or involved).
  36
  37 This lack of contractual obligation also means that if the work is not
  38 done, then there is no penalty (for you). The only thing that happens
  39 is we grumble a bit and have to find someone else to do the work.
  40
  41 It is **your responsibility** to comply with local law and to consult an
  42 Accountant. Your Accountant will be able to confirm the International
  43 Tax Agreements, from the details and/or contact information on NLNet's
  44 website <https://nlnet.nl/foundation/ANBI.html>.  If you are not familiar
  45 with this, or if your Accountant is unfamiliar with International Tax
  46 Agreements, please contact us, and we can put your Accountant in touch
  47 with Bob Goudriaan, the Finance Director of NLnet who specialises in
  48 International Tax Law.  Bob can explain the details to your Accountant;
  49 your Accountant can explain it to you.
  50
  51
  52 # NLNet LibreSOC Top-level
  53
  54 * 2019-02-012 Core <https://bugs.libre-soc.org/show_bug.cgi?id=191>
  55 * 2019-10-043 Wishbone <https://bugs.libre-soc.org/show_bug.cgi?id=175>
  56 * 2019-10-031 Video <https://bugs.libre-soc.org/show_bug.cgi?id=137>
  57 * 2019-10-029 Coriolis2 <https://bugs.libre-soc.org/show_bug.cgi?id=138>
  58 * 2019-10-042 MESA <https://bugs.libre-soc.org/show_bug.cgi?id=140>
  59 * 2019-10-032 Proofs <https://bugs.libre-soc.org/show_bug.cgi?id=158>
  60 * 2019-10-046 Standards <https://bugs.libre-soc.org/show_bug.cgi?id=174>
  61
  62 # NLNet new members onboarding FAQ <a id="faq">
  63
  64 This FAQ is written to assist people in understanding the key difference
  65 between being "financially rewarded with charitable donations" and
  66 "a job / contract / work-for-hire agreement".
  67
  68 * Q: I heard that NLnet is EU funded, I am not in the EU therefore I
  69   cannot help?
  70  - A: we get this a lot: it is wrong.  NLnet is quite happy to give
  71       donations for work done by people outside of the EU, for the PET
  72       Programme tasks (<http://nlnet.nl/PET>).  The "Assure" Programme
  73       is slightly different.
  74 * Q: I work for a company, can my company receive donations?
  75  - A: of course!  Just bear in mind that NLnet will not pay your employer's
  76       Corporation Tax contributions (because NLnet is a Charitable
  77       Foundation).
  78 * Q: I am from India. Can i receive charitable donations?
  79  - A: Directly? no you can't!  This is due to a Law in India that
  80       prohibits India Nationals from directly receiving **any** Charitable
  81       Donations from Foreigners!  However, "work" turns out to be
  82       absolutely fine, and if you have a foreign bank account (outside
  83       of India), that's also fine.  It's transfers to **India** bank
  84       accounts from Foreign Charities that is prohibited by India Law.
  85       There are solutions, basically.
  86 * Q: So I start work on a bug: do I get paid "per hour"?
  87  - A: No.  NLnet's donations are for "results" (Milestones) not time.
  88       This avoids NLnet being, for example, qualified under local law
  89       (e.g. UK IR35) as an "employer" (which would interfere with their
  90       status and responsibilities as a Charitable Foundation).
  91 * Q: What if I don't complete the work?
  92  - A: then you can't submit a Request for Payment.
  93 * Q: Are there any penalties or consequences for me if I don't?
  94  - A: No.  there's no contract (it's a Memorandum of Understanding), so
  95       no penalties.  You just don't get the associated "gift / donation".
  96 * Q: What if it's a really long task?
  97  - A: We can (and do) split the (pre-agreed) Milestones into sub-tasks
  98       in our bugtracker.  The same rules apply: 100% completion is required.
  99 * Q: What if i take a longer or shorter time?
 100    A: If it's shorter, great! you still get the same gift/donation (good for
 101       you!)  If it's longer, then, well, this is really no different from
 102       having given a "quote" for a job.  If that's really problematic
 103       we may be able to sort something out.
 104 * Q: So do I pay any tax on what I get paid?
 105  - A: This is a question that you will have to ask your *Accountant*.  In
 106      most jurisdictions, Charitable Gifts (which is what NLnet gives you)
 107      are entirely tax-free, however beyond a certain point some jurisdictions
 108      might start taxing it.  Bottom line: it is **your** responsibility to
 109      check with **your** Accountant.  Not ours, and not NLnet's.  We can
 110      help get you through the "Understanding Hoops" on that however it is
 111      definitely your responsibility and your responsibility alone.
 112 * Q: What was that about a Memorandum of Understanding?
 113  - A: Part of NLnet's funding remit (under the EU Horizon 2020
 114       Programme) and also part of the protection for yourself and for
 115       them, you will need to be listed as a Project Contributor on the
 116       associated Grant's MoU.  Note and reinforcement reminder: *this is
 117       not a contract*, it is simply for the NLnet Foundation's
 118       "Accountability and Audit trails" and is entirely private.
 119       Also note that the MoU specifically states (reinforcing the above)
 120       that you agree that it's your responsibility to contact an Accountant
 121       and to comply with local Tax Law regarding the donations that you
 122       receive.
 123 * Q: What about my privacy in that regard?
 124  - A: NLnet do not give out confidential names and addresses and we
 125       request that you communicate that information directly to them
 126       (not to us as Project Leaders or to other Project Members)
 127 * Q: What about Bank Account information for payments, I mean donations
 128  - A: Again: we request that you pass on the Bank Account information
 129       directly to NLnet.
 130 * Q: So... you - personally - the other LibreSOC developers - are not
 131      paying us or involved in payment in any way?
 132  - A: Correct.  We receive personal charitable donations (gifts) from NLnet,
 133       just like you would, having first also been added to the MoU.
 134 * Q: This all sounds very odd!  I want to consult my Lawyer!
 135  - A: Yeah please don't do that, it is Charitable Donations completely
 136       and utterly wasted for absolutely no good reason. Plus, you are
 137       asking the wrong expert, unless they are an expert in International
 138       Finance, specialise in International Tax Agreements, and are
 139       also a Chartered Accountant, or they are prepared to work
 140       "Pro-bono".  NLnet is Charitably funding "Works for the Public
 141       Good".  If you pay your lawyer hundreds to thousands of dollars
 142       for "advice", that money needs to be replenished in your bank
 143       account. That means, ultimately, that NLnet, a Charity, is paying
 144       **your legal costs** to ask a question that **your lawyer** is
 145       not even qualified to answer, because they are not an **Accountant**!
 146       Please instead have your **Accountant** review the International
 147       Tax Agreements that NLnet went to a lot of trouble to set up
 148       (<https://nlnet.nl/foundation/ANBI.html>) and if your **Accountant**
 149       does not understand them, have them contact Bob Goudriaan directly.
 150       Bob can explain it to your **Accountant**, your Accountant can explain
 151       it to you.
 152 * Q: I wanted to ask about "Works for the Public Good".  What does that mean,
 153      in practical terms?
 154  - A: It means that our (your) work - must be made available under Libre
 155       Licenses.  In this project's case we chose the LGPLv3+.
 156 * Q: Do I retain copyright?
 157  - A: Yes you do however we do ask that you make a "dual-assignment" so
 158       that we can enter into (non-exclusive, non-transferrable) re-licensing
 159       agreements to large Corporations that do not like the LGPLv3+.
 160       Given that you would receive a percentage of a substantial amount
 161       of money (which will be a donation by that Corporation) there is
 162       a financial incentive there (licensing deals for GPUs start around
 163       USD 250,000 for the low-end ones and go up from there).
 164 * Q: What's this about transparency?
 165  - A: We are funded under NLnet's Privacy and Enhanced Trust Programme
 166       <https://nlnet.nl/PET>.  The mandate is so that people to be able to
 167       trust what we are doing, and for independent audits to be able to
 168       take place.  Therefore, development discussion needs to be under
 169       resources within our control to record (i.e. not github).  Even the
 170       IRC channel is logged.
 171 * Q: So I have to record *everything*?
 172  - A: No, just make sure to use the bugtracker, mailing lists, IRC channel
 173       gitolite3 and FTP server for general day-to-day *development*.  Not
 174       your "personal conversations" or (if a Professor for example) your
 175       Lectures which happen to mention LibreSOC.
 176 * Q: That sounds nerve-wracking!
 177  - A: This is just how Libre software development is done: entirely publicly!
 178       There is nothing new here in 30+ years of Libre software development,
 179       it's just that it's a condition of involvement rather than optional.
 180       [sotto voice: and to be honest the traffic volume is so high and it's
 181       of such specialist interest that nobody's going to be looking who isn't
 182       genuinely interested :) ]