PUBLISHED: JANUARY 14, 2000

Through various seminars, discussions with governmental partners and presentations in parliamentary conferences, ICNL has pointed out several ambiguities in the Tax Code. One of these ambiguities is the definition of a “grant”. This definition was subject to various interpretations and in some cases, grants were considered income subject to taxation. ICNL proposed a clarification to this definition that would undeniably place grants in a category distinct from income (non-profit revenue). Representatives from the Ministry of Revenue accepted this point and even went one step farther by enacting a clarification to the current definition of grant and exempted all grant money from taxation. The result of this provision could save NGOs and the donor organizations up 20% on each grant made. This is the most progressive change in NGO taxation in Central Asia and possibly the entire NIS.

ICNL will publish more information on this development in the next issue of the International Journal for Not-for-Profit Law, to be published the week of January 17th.