Philanthropy for the Arts in the Era of Globalisation : International Tax Barriers for Charitable Giving

Attracting gifts from private donors is vital for many arts organisations, as the income they generate from other sources is too limited to finance their activities. Governments use tax incentives to stimulate individuals to give to arts organisations and other causes active for the public benefit. In many countries, gifts to public benefit organisations qualify for tax incentives on donors’ personal income taxes.
When donations cross borders, these tax incentives do not always apply. This hinders arts organisations’ ability to raise funds internationally. Several solutions exist to make international donations possible with the benefit of a tax incentive. These solutions can be public solutions (e.g. tax treaties) or private initiatives making use of public solutions (e.g. foreign friends organisations and intermediaries).
This research evaluates the solutions from the perspective of arts organisations, making use of both legal doctrinal research and empirical research methods, in order to identify best practices. Combining the approach of tax law and cultural economics, an assessment framework is developed to test the different solutions and to determine which solution is optimal from the perspective of arts organisations.