Shall lose charitable status
Campact agitates against the Taxpayers’ Union
9/3/2023 12:53 AM
While Attac or Campact have lost their charitable status, the Taxpayers’ Union retains its classification. The campaign alliance turns against this with its own legal opinion and rails that neoliberal clubs are preferred.
According to activists, the taxpayers’ association is wrongly non-profit. This is the result of a 70-page legal opinion commissioned by the campaign organization Campact and available to the editorial network Germany (RND). Campact wants to initiate a new debate about non-profit law.
In order to pursue the charitable purpose of “the general promotion of the democratic state”, organizations are subject to strict limits, write the experts commissioned by Campact. This included party-political neutrality and the renunciation of “influencing the formation of political will in the sense of one’s own views”. According to the report, the experts write that the taxpayers’ association regularly violates this rule. The “concrete implementation demands made of politicians” and “one-sided proposals for solutions” that were regularly expressed exceeded the limits of permissible political activity for non-profit organizations.
legal reform required
“There is a threat of a two-tier civil society in Germany,” Campact board member Felix Kolb complained to the RND. “While conservative and neoliberal associations such as the Taxpayers’ Association are still considered non-profit, many pro-democracy associations are concerned about their non-profit status or, like Attac and Campact, have already lost their non-profit status.” The activist concludes that it is absolutely unacceptable that in a constitutional state like Germany there are so blatantly double standards.
Kolb calls for a comprehensive reform of the non-profit law. He made three demands to the RND: Goals such as “commitment to fundamental and human rights, democracy, anti-discrimination, social justice and peace” must “finally become non-profit”. He also called for “clarification that associations do not have to fear for their non-profit status if they want to achieve their statutory purposes through petitions, demonstrations and discussions with politicians”. And it must be “legally permitted for a sports club to call for a demonstration against racism or for a carnival club to help those affected by natural disasters”.