Can Polish Forums be registered as a Public Benefit Organization?

Lazarus 5 | 810

15 Apr 2026 #1

Is there any chance that Admin would like to register Polish Forums as a Public Benefit Organization (in Polish: Organizacja Pożytku Publicznego)?

If it is registered as that, I can personally donate every year about a third of the total running costs. And I'd expect there are at least a couple of other members who pay personal taxes in Poland who could also donate at least a few percent of the total running costs every year if PF were a Public Benefit Organization.

Admin 26 | 425 Administrator

15 Apr 2026 #2

We considered it, but after reviewing the additional costs and the strict IRS requirements involved, we realized it wouldn't be worth it. We'd end up spending your donation funds on external fees just to maintain the status. There's also a fee for de-registering such organizations, and they require a certified public accountant to sign off on the annual tax documents (an extra fee).

At this point, if we lack the funds to keep PF running - or decide it's no longer worth maintaining for free - we can simply make the forum in a read-only mode, add a few ads, and relax a bit :)

Thanks again for your thoughtful suggestions!

non-profit-usa.avif

OP Lazarus 5 | 810

15 Apr 2026 #3

the strict IRS requirements involved

Could you formally transfer ownership of PF to a Polish Public Benefit Organization? And then that Polish PBO collects the donations needed for the running costs. Based on average donations, we would have to spend about the same money we get on paperwork and fees, that's why it's not economically viable to us. For example, if we knew you'd send us $500, we'd initially have to spend about $600 just to acquire the non-profit status, which means we would lose $100 on this transaction.....

Or the Polish PBO could just donate funds for the running costs of PF. I'm sure that promotion of Polish culture is an acceptable raison d'etre for a PBO here.

amiga500 5 | 2068

15 Apr 2026 #4

Let me guess; Lazarus, Delph and Jon will offer to run the PPBO which controls PF. For the good of promoting polish culture

Just introduce ads and be done with this begging and threatening to close roundabout.

jon357 77 | 26049

15 Apr 2026 #5

PPBO

Everything seems to be some sort of foundation in PL nowadays, even if it's actually a business.

Tlum 13 | 527

16 Apr 2026 #6

Now I know where all these jokes come from:

Good person: I'll donate $100 to you.

Homeless: Thank you, sir, I'm grateful!

Good person: There's one condition, though - you need to give me a receipt and fill out a tax form.

Homeless: Sir, I would, but I have no clue how to do that or what it's for.

Good person: I want to give you $100, but I also want to save $10 on my tax return.

Homeless: Sir, I appreciate you! So why not just give me $90 or $80 instead?

Good person: Because then I'd lose $10.

Homeless: But sir, you wanted to give me $100, and now you say you'd lose $10?

Good person: #after thinking# You've got a point. Maybe I was just teasing you, but it felt good to help people in need. Goodbye.

OP Lazarus 5 | 810

17 Apr 2026 #7

we'd initially have to spend about $600 just to acquire the non-profit status

Are you sure? I thought it was much much less than that. Have you checked the info at this site? poradnik.ngo.pl/kto-i-na-jakich-warunkach-moze-otrzymac-status-opp - it probably applies to organizations formed in Poland; we are formally located in the US.

I want to give you $100, but I also want to save $10 on my tax..

This is slightly different. The government here lets people who pay taxes here redirect an amount equal to 1.5% of the income tax they pay to the charity/PBO of their choice. So I could redirect that money to PF if PF were a PBO, or I can just carry on giving it to the Campaign Against Homophobia.

amiga500 5 | 2068

17 Apr 2026 #8

PF were a PBO

Wouldn't that drastically infringe on PFs status as being a free speech haven? I can predict the self righteous outrage now if someone made a complaint to the media. Maybe that's the cunning plan by the BBC? That is a valid concern. Registered non-profit organizations can be scrutinized for unspoken reasons.

just carry on giving it to the Campaign Against Homophobia

Stop virtue signalling. It's unbecoming in decent company. Well at least we now know you're Delph and not Harry.

OP Lazarus 5 | 810

17 Apr 2026 #9

Wouldn't that drastically infringe on PFs status as being a free speech haven?

Nope. And PF isn't that anyway (as some posters have found out by drawing permanent bans).

I can predict the self righteous outrage now if someone made a complaint to the media.

If you'd been to Poland you'd know that there's hardly a shortage of people who set up a PBO to raise funds for the treatment of their kid/grandchild/niece/nephew/whoever and the spunk the cash on booze / a car / a holiday / whatever. Those stories are so common that they don't even make the local paper, so good luck getting media attention about a foreign-language website that gets donations from people and then allows posters to call each other "retarded" or whatever.

Joker 2 | 2692

18 Apr 2026 #10

Wouldn't that drastically infringe on PFs status as being a free speech haven?

This type of forum isn't allowed in the EU anymore or you will be arrested. Ask BB and Torq about having to close down their forum allthingspoland.com

They dont have free speech anymore in the UK and spreading. Its because most Eurps haven't any balls to stand up for their rights or country.

Nobody in their right mind wants to go on vacation there anymore.

jon357 77 | 26049

18 Apr 2026 #11

. Ask BB and Torq about having to close down

There are far far worse fora in Europe without arrests.

Stop swallowing rubbish from the internet.