[ANN] Bit-pay Merchant Solutions for Charities & Non-Profits

[Gabi]

Interesting!

[nighteyes]

1)Both wikileaks and the EFF do not take donations in bitcoin....HINT HINT HINT
2)The charity has liability for what happens with bit-pay...but bit-pay is the same as Visa right? LOL.
3)Someone should read about the record keeping requirements for a charitable contribution.

Im not listing all the problems with your scam.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Im not listing all the problems with your scam.

No scam here, nighteyes.   Charities so far haven't accepted bitcoins because they could not make use of them as bitcoins.  Not every charity operator has the time or the skills to operate a trading account.  Now that the donation can be quickly converted to dollars that the charity can actually use, bitcoins become a viable option.  Regarding recordkeeping, it is up to the donor to keep track of their cost basis for tax purposes.  All they get from the charity, or from bit-pay, is a receipt for the donation.  But with a unique bitcoin address, the transaction can be verified in the blockchain.

[nighteyes]

Im not listing all the problems with your scam.

No scam here, nighteyes.   Charities so far haven't accepted bitcoins because they could not make use of them as bitcoins.  Not every charity operator has the time or the skills to operate a trading account.  Now that the donation can be quickly converted to dollars that the charity can actually use, bitcoins become a viable option.  Regarding recordkeeping, it is up to the donor to keep track of their cost basis for tax purposes.  All they get from the charity, or from bit-pay, is a receipt for the donation.  But with a unique bitcoin address, the transaction can be verified in the blockchain.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/06/eff-and-bitcoin

"1. We don't fully understand the complex legal issues involved with creating a new currency system
2. We don't want to mislead our donors.
3. People were misconstruing our acceptance of Bitcoins as an endorsement of Bitcoin."

So no, it wasnt because they could not make use of them.

#2 for record keeping, giving an IRS agent a unique bitcoin address will not satisy the record keeping requirement. You need either a bank withdrawl or payroll deduction. No charity should be authorizing deductions if they dont know who actually gave it. And even if the IRS gave you that point(they wont), good luck explaining the 'verification' in the blockchain. Just wait until someone says they gave $500 and you say it was $100 and start explaining blockchains and bitcoin to the charity.

It is possible to send bitcoins to charity, just not that way. I proposed a 501c3 charity that will accept the bitcoins that will then restrict that donation to be used for the donor purposes...however, there is the issue of the board of directors...and also an open transaction/books system, where the open-source computer program does the transfering without humans....granted I was told the open books system is impossible and probably will be hacked anyway.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

You need either a bank withdrawl or payroll deduction.

Not exactly.  If the charity gives you a receipt, that is proof enough.  I donate to a local charity all the time.  Save every receipt, and add them up at the end of the year. 

It's too early for EFF.  Charities didn't accept credit cards at first, and then they did.  Charities didn't accept Paypal at first, and then they did.  If EFF says no, ok, there are plenty of other charities out there that will love the benefits that bitcoin offers.

[Steve]

According to my tax adviser, you only need a receipt from the charitable organization for cash donations.  For donations of property where you declare a value, you also only need a receipt if it's $5000 or less.  If it's over $5000, then an appraisal is required.  If anyone donates more than $5000 using bitcoin, you might consider getting a letter ruling from the IRS (or just sell the bitcoins and give them the cash and avoid the hassle).

Edit: but don't trust me, it's all right here: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106990,00.html

[nighteyes]

According to my tax adviser, you only need a receipt from the charitable organization for cash donations.  For donations of property where you declare a value, you also only need a receipt if it's $5000 or less.  If it's over $5000, then an appraisal is required.  If anyone donates more than $5000 using bitcoin, you might consider getting a letter ruling from the IRS (or just sell the bitcoins and give them the cash and avoid the hassle).

Edit: but don't trust me, it's all right here: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106990,00.html

yes, if you get the receipt...which they are not suppose to hand out if they dont know who the donor is. The charity by law must keep record of the source of donations. A terrorist cant give $1 million confidentially to AlQCharity#5 without any records....nor can you just type in someone else's credit card# for your donation....well thats how its supposed to work. Bitpay saying who the donor is not going to cut it either.

As I said, wait until there is a dispute....but then again, maybe there are some charities willing to put their 501c3 status on the line to accept bitcoins through some payment processor.

I did look at a site, http://www.bitcharity.org/#addresses, which claims a bitcoin address for Amnesty International....which seems like their(bitcharity) address that who knows what happens after that. I didnt see a 501c3 listed there for the direct donations. Freedombox doesnt have any records on the foundation lookup(it doesnt claim to be a 501c3 either)...http://bartlett.oag.state.ny.us/Char_Forms/search_charities.jsp

[BitPay Business Solutions]

yes, if you get the receipt...which they are not suppose to hand out if they dont know who the donor is. The charity by law must keep record of the source of donations. A terrorist cant give $1 million confidentially to AlQCharity#5 without any records.

I think you are missing the point.  The vast majority of charitable donations are in the $10-$100 range.  You can't do anything large with bitcoins right now anyway, without crashing the market in some form.

The charity can collect the name and address of the donor to put on the receipt.  Perfectly acceptable.

- If the charity views the bitcoins as cash, ok, then offer a cash receipt.
- If the charity views the bitcoins as property, ok, then offer a receipt with the cash value.

There are literally tens of thousands of charities out there, where our feature is perfectly acceptable for small donations.  Let's talk to them. 

[Steve]

yes, if you get the receipt...which they are not suppose to hand out if they dont know who the donor is. The charity by law must keep record of the source of donations. A terrorist cant give $1 million confidentially to AlQCharity#5 without any records....nor can you just type in someone else's credit card# for your donation....well thats how its supposed to work. Bitpay saying who the donor is not going to cut it either.

As I said, wait until there is a dispute....but then again, maybe there are some charities willing to put their 501c3 status on the line to accept bitcoins through some payment processor.

I did look at a site, http://www.bitcharity.org/#addresses, which claims a bitcoin address for Amnesty International....which seems like their(bitcharity) address that who knows what happens after that. I didnt see a 501c3 listed there for the direct donations. Freedombox doesnt have any records on the foundation lookup(it doesnt claim to be a 501c3 either)...http://bartlett.oag.state.ny.us/Char_Forms/search_charities.jsp

I think you are misinformed.  Anonymous donations are quite common (at least in the US).  The ability to make truly anonymous donations using bitcoin might actually be a highly desirable feature.  All the IRS cares about is that you can prove that you actually made the contribution that you claimed on your tax form should they decide to audit you.  Half the time that I've donated, the charity gave me a blank receipt and let me fill it out.  And, as far as a receipt goes, just about anything goes...the IRS has no standard form for such receipts.

I can't comment on bitcharity.org, but one thing you could do is inform the charity of any donations to those addresses (and the charity themselves could monitor transactions to those addresses).

[defxor]

1)Both wikileaks and the EFF do not take donations in bitcoin....HINT HINT HINT

http://wikileaks.org/support.html

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a secure and anonymous digital currency. Bitcoins cannot be easily tracked back to you, and are safer and faster alternative to other donation methods. You can send BTC to the following address:

1HB5XMLmzFVj8ALj6mfBsbifRoD4miY36v

Various sites offer a service to exchange other currency to/from Bitcoins. There are also services allowing trades of goods for Bitcoins. Bitcoins are not subject to central regulations and are still gaining value. Read more about Bitcoins on Wikipedia

For maximum security, you can also request a one-time Bitcoin address. To do so, please join our IRC and type /msg Bitcoin new.

Our helpful bot will generate new donation address. Please make sure Bot is active on #bitcoin channel and has @ to the left of his nick.

[nighteyes]

1)Both wikileaks and the EFF do not take donations in bitcoin....HINT HINT HINT

http://wikileaks.org/support.html

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a secure and anonymous digital currency. Bitcoins cannot be easily tracked back to you, and are safer and faster alternative to other donation methods. You can send BTC to the following address:

1HB5XMLmzFVj8ALj6mfBsbifRoD4miY36v

Various sites offer a service to exchange other currency to/from Bitcoins. There are also services allowing trades of goods for Bitcoins. Bitcoins are not subject to central regulations and are still gaining value. Read more about Bitcoins on Wikipedia

For maximum security, you can also request a one-time Bitcoin address. To do so, please join our IRC and type /msg Bitcoin new.

Our helpful bot will generate new donation address. Please make sure Bot is active on #bitcoin channel and has @ to the left of his nick.

You are correct. Wikileaks accepted donations starting June 2011, and before that I couldnt find any position against bitcoins. There was some momentum hoping they wouldnt accept bitcoins led by Satoshi and our friend BruceWagner(I am not trying to imply any relationship between Satoshi and BruceWagner) back in Dec2010. I shouldnt have mentioned wikileaks because they are not a 501c3 org.

[nighteyes]

I think you are misinformed.  Anonymous donations are quite common (at least in the US).  The ability to make truly anonymous donations using bitcoin might actually be a highly desirable feature.  All the IRS cares about is that you can prove that you actually made the contribution that you claimed on your tax form should they decide to audit you.  Half the time that I've donated, the charity gave me a blank receipt and let me fill it out.  And, as far as a receipt goes, just about anything goes...the IRS has no standard form for such receipts.

I can't comment on bitcharity.org, but one thing you could do is inform the charity of any donations to those addresses (and the charity themselves could monitor transactions to those addresses).

I disagree that tax-deductible anonymous donations are quite common. Sure anyone can accept bitcoins, but to meet the IRS rules, either the deductor or the charity have to have records. As far as a charity handing out blank tax deductible donation receipts, that wont work with the IRS where you just fill in the amount and they accept that position. I'll admit not all businesses know all regulations, and not all filings and records are in proper order. But if you look at the rules set out, they dont entitle anonymous tax deductible donations.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

I'll admit not all businesses know all regulations, and not all filings and records are in proper order. But if you look at the rules set out, they dont entitle anonymous tax deductible donations.

I think you are creating a problem where none exists.  Charities know the rules.  Donors know the rules.  We're giving them another way to transact.  Let's be productive and talk to the charities where this can be helpful.

[Steve]

I think you are misinformed.  Anonymous donations are quite common (at least in the US).  The ability to make truly anonymous donations using bitcoin might actually be a highly desirable feature.  All the IRS cares about is that you can prove that you actually made the contribution that you claimed on your tax form should they decide to audit you.  Half the time that I've donated, the charity gave me a blank receipt and let me fill it out.  And, as far as a receipt goes, just about anything goes...the IRS has no standard form for such receipts.

I can't comment on bitcharity.org, but one thing you could do is inform the charity of any donations to those addresses (and the charity themselves could monitor transactions to those addresses).

I disagree that tax-deductible anonymous donations are quite common. Sure anyone can accept bitcoins, but to meet the IRS rules, either the deductor or the charity have to have records. As far as a charity handing out blank tax deductible donation receipts, that wont work with the IRS where you just fill in the amount and they accept that position. I'll admit not all businesses know all regulations, and not all filings and records are in proper order. But if you look at the rules set out, they dont entitle anonymous tax deductible donations.

Anonymous donations are very common.  You are correct that either the person claiming a deduction or or the charity needs to have records.  I think you're confusing anonymity and record keeping.  As far as the IRS is concerned, they only care that you can prove to them that you made the donation (the proof can be in many forms and is only actually needed should you get audited).  The charity does not have to know who made the donation.  In fact, my previous employer allowed donations through payroll deduction and you could select an option to remain anonymous.  Obviously, the employer would know who made the donation, but the charity would not.  And those donations are definitely tax deductible.

[nmat]

Congratulations on the improvements. Maybe you should get a section at your website for announcements? I see the Press/Media section there, but it doesn't have any info on opencart/charities.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Congratulations on the improvements. Maybe you should get a section at your website for announcements? I see the Press/Media section there, but it doesn't have any info on opencart/charities.

They are written and will be published with the next update.  Man, you guys can't let us catch our breath!  LOL

[nmat]

They are written and will be published with the next update.  Man, you guys can't let us catch our breath!  LOL

It's tough to provide a service because people always want more and more (and sometimes they want something and when they get it they realize they really didn't need it after all). Anyway, it was just a suggestion. Take your time ...

[osmosis]

These guys are promoting sound money. Their donation page could use a some bitcoin flare.

http://econstories.tv/donate/

[BitPay Business Solutions]

We have a 501(c)(3) organization now accepting Bitcoin donations with Bit-Pay.

http://templeoftantra.org/

We have verified their status with the IRS and Bit-Pay will process all Bitcoin donations free of charge for the charity!

[nmat]

We have a 501(c)(3) organization now accepting Bitcoin donations with Bit-Pay.

http://templeoftantra.org/

We have verified their status with the IRS and Bit-Pay will process all Bitcoin donations free of charge for the charity!

Your payment page looks pretty good. I hadn't seen it until now.