I have a quick question... would it be possible to have a web hosting company set up where one would claim to just take donations as an individual (as such, not going through any government form of control / business registration)?

For example, this would basically be in the sense of me, as an individual hobbyist, purchasing web-servers for my own personal, non-business usage and hosting not "clients" on them, but random people from the internet who feel like donating money to me (out of the kindness of my heart and all that). A completely personal endeavor... off the grid...

Is this illegal in any way, shape or form (I am in Canada if anyone from here is aware of the specific laws on the matter, but American based responses would be great as wel... I'm sure things are pretty similar)?

I really don't see why, especially in theory, that one shouldn't be able to do this... but at the same time, I'm sure I'm overlooking something...

You'll want to check with an accountant in your area. Taking tax/legal advice from an internet message board is, well, irresponsible at best.

That said, I believe since it *is* income...it's taxable. You're not an official non-profit organization, so you'll probably be liable for taxes.

Why not run it as a business though, you'd get far more tax breaks by doing so. You can't write off any kind of business expenses for personal income.

--Tina

You'll want to check with an accountant in your area. Taking tax/legal advice from an internet message board is, well, irresponsible at best. absolutely, i did in fact email my accountant about the matter about 30 minutes before posting this thread, but at the same time, i'm curious to see what sort of opinions i can garner from people's personal experiences and opinions... combining little tidbits of data from others' personal preferences is always helpful...

That said, I believe since it *is* income...it's taxable. You're not an official non-profit organization, so you'll probably be liable for taxes. how exactly is it "income" if its hobbyist based? i wouldn't be a "non-profit" organization, but i wouldn't be a "for-profit" organization either... i would be able to truthfully state that the servers were purchased for personal endeavors and that the donations helped to pay for the monthly fees... if they ended up overlapping those monthly fees... all the better...

absolutely, i did in fact email my accountant about the matter about 30 minutes before posting this thread, but at the same time, i'm curious to see what sort of opinions i can garner from people's personal experiences and opinions... combining little tidbits of data from others' personal preferences is always helpful...

how exactly is it "income" if its hobbyist based? i wouldn't be a "non-profit" organization, but i wouldn't be a "for-profit" organization either... i would be able to truthfully state that the servers were purchased for personal endeavors and that the donations helped to pay for the monthly fees... if they ended up overlapping those monthly fees... all the better...


If you make a profit on it, its no longer a hobby. I truly started out doing this as a hobby for friends and family, never dreaming I would ever make any money. At a certain point, when I was making about $1000 a month pure profit, my accountant warned me that I better get a tax ID and start treating this as a business or I was going to be in deep doo-doo with the IRS.

Again, since almost everything is a write-off (especially, as you say, you're not 'for profit')...why in the world would you *not* treat it as a business??

--Tina