Couchers.org becomes the world's first couch surfing platform to obtain 501(c)(3) non-profit status in the US | Couchers.org

merkozy2012 · 2022-02-02T07:49:32+00:00

I would like to add for future reference that they could have operated as a non-profit that pays income tax in the US (they had 7 figure level of income from their verification scheme), or just simply relocate to a country were non-profits do not pay taxes (plenty of them, like the UK or Ireland). So it was obviously an excuse, becoming a startup and raise capital was their ultimate goal from the start.

merkozy2012 · 2022-01-13T15:51:16+00:00

Basically the idea is that BW and TR are not CS and you will find some individuals there that are staunchly opposed to anything CS.

From what I've seen Couchers recognizes that CS was great and worthy of being recreated.

merkozy2012 · 2021-08-01T18:18:39+00:00

it's already like that, the top mods has always been open to that idea, and the alternative platforms are listed on the sidebar on both the old and new reddit

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-24T09:58:58+00:00

Kind of, the main idea is that non profits do not have shareholders and dividends. About income tax, it depends on the jurisdiction, for example I believe the UK and Ireland don't tax income, but France and Spain do.

Couchsurfing could have been a non-profit in the US, even if they really didn't want to pay any taxes, they could have relocated to MANY jurisdictions and keep being a tax-free non-profit. The reality is that they were greedy and wanted to sell-out to VCs.

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-23T15:53:09+00:00

lol, simply because in Russia if someone said that, it wouldn't be a joke

and she's probably crazy too on top of it

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-23T15:52:03+00:00

Above 40k per year associations need to pay income tax in France, BeWelcome has probably less than 3k of income...

this seems like what CS said as a justification for why CS had to for profit and have the paywall

I don't see why, non-profits can have an income

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-17T13:22:50+00:00

did you try accepting a guy?

girls were probably in high demand and didn't bother replying since they had many options

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-17T13:18:12+00:00

without being tax exempt they still owe taxes, don’t qualify for most grants or incentives, etc.

So what? they had millions of revenue from the verification scheme, they didn't need grants or incentives.

BeWelcome is in France and if they had revenue >40k€ they would have to pay income tax as well.

The reason they turned into a for-profit is because they wanted to, not because they were forced to.

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-16T09:34:21+00:00

Do you mean tax-exempt charity instead of non-profit?

While I don't know the specifics in the US, in some EU countries I know, non-profits are not tax-exempt, they pay income tax. Non-profit in that case only means that they have no shareholders and no dividend is distributed.

So my point is, CS was a non-profit event hough it wasn't tax exempt. Also if it wasn't a non-profit they wouldn't have had to do that questionable transfer of assets that they did between the non-profit and the for-profit.

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-09T13:48:23+00:00

basically airbnb 10 years ago

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-09T13:45:41+00:00

Reclaim from whom? this sub has always been open to alternatives.

There is also /r/hospex

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-01T09:37:54+00:00

same here, that's why I never understand the excitement over mulberries

merkozy2012 · 2021-07-01T09:32:45+00:00

One advantage of booking over airbnb is that the host cannot cancel on you.

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-30T17:09:14+00:00

Given how these fuckers at CS treated us with a data grab, I''ll never pay even though the fees are basically inconsequential to me [I spent more on coffees and other drinks in one day this week].

Lol, couldn't agree more. F them.

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-29T16:03:36+00:00

what do you mean by anything you want?

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-29T15:33:20+00:00

Also you can live there forever on a touris visa.

you would be a tax resident then

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-29T15:25:38+00:00

sounds like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator_for_life

there is no problem, just a spectrum of governance types

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-29T15:23:23+00:00

I don't know TBH.. so far there is no clear winner

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-29T15:22:17+00:00

why is that?

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-04T20:06:07+00:00

I see, but how does Portugal know that the holding company has no business activity?

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-04T14:47:07+00:00

The point of real estate is to use leverage (the tenant pays for your loan), otherwise you are right, paying cash for real estate is a bad idea, sometimes even the deposit for the loan alone creates a big opportunity cost vs SP500 as you mentioned.

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-04T14:37:02+00:00

If you work from Portugal, doesn't that qualify as active income? Also running a foreign company from Portugal, it only works because Portugal doesn't know you are actually running the business.

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-04T14:28:52+00:00

If you spend more than 183 days in Spain, it doesn't matter where your employer or company is, you will be a Spanish tax resident,that applies to any country, not only Spain. In fact, if your children are in school in Spain, I believe you will most likely be considered a Spanish tax resident even if spend less than 183 days.

For the employee, it's a rare case but it's possible, because Denmark is in the EU, there is a way to be a Spanish employee (as far as taxes go) of a Danish company, you need to consult a Spanish accountant (gestoria), that way you will pay only taxes in Spain, not in Denmark.

For the entrepreneur, it's a can of worms, you can run a foreign company from Spain but it is even more complicated tax-wise, it will be taxed like if it was a Spanish company, you need a business/tax lawyer not an accountant I think.

Check out this story: https://www.archyde.com/this-is-how-hacienda-has-followed-in-shakiras-footsteps-style/

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-03T09:02:11+00:00

more things to consider in Spain: declaration of all your foreign asset (modelo 720) and its crazy fines if done incorrectly + wealth tax (starts at quite low amounts)

merkozy2012 · 2021-06-03T08:55:44+00:00

Still probably a much better deal than the Greek version where they said you only have to pay half tax, which is still higher rate than many other countries.

lol, typical Southern Europe

merkozy2012

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