Tax and Accounting

For Financial Contributors

Tax-deductible status

Contributions to Collectives hosted by the Open Source Collective are not tax-deductible, we are a 501c6 nonprofit organization, not a 501c3 charity.

For Admins of Collectives

OSC collects all the necessary tax information from financial contributors and payees (W8 or W9 forms). We file taxes and issue 1099s on behalf of all our hosted projects.

You can accept grants as a fiscally-sponsored project with OSC as your host organization. Before you apply for a grant, make sure they can give grant funding to organizations that are 501c6 (mutual-benefit nonprofit). Some grants can only be awarded to nonprofits that are 501c3 (public-benefit nonprofit).

If you are a US-based project with an explicitly charitable mission, and you wish to qualify for charity grants and tax-deductible donations, you may wish you apply to Open Collective Foundation.

For Payees from Collectives

Tax forms we require

If you submit invoice expenses totaling $600 USD or more per year, you will need to provide us your W9 (for US persons) or W8-BEN/E (for non-US persons) form. Receipt reimbursements don't count toward the $600 limit, only invoices.

When you submit an invoice that puts you over the $600 threshold, you will be sent an email with a link to complete your tax form online. This email will come from Dropbox Forms and say "Open Collective sent you a request via Dropbox Forms".

Your invoice will not be paid until the tax form has been submitted.

Reporting income from OSC

For tax purposes, you will be treated as an independent contractor, and if you are a US citizen or a dual citizen of the US, you will be issued a 1099 if your earnings from OSC exceed $600 in a year. Here is a good explanation of how W9s work for independent contractors, and there's more info on what a 1099 is here.

If you don’t meet the $600 threshold, report your earnings as miscellaneous self-employment income when you file your taxes.

If you are not a US person, we will only keep your information on file, and it's up to you to meet any tax reporting obligations in your country.