Sol1 now taking donations for TOG server hosting

[exekewtable]

Hey guys,
As you probably know, my company: Solutions First – We run Networks. We build the Web. We live Open Source. hosts the TOG Minecraft and TF2 servers, and a mumble server for many other TOGers as well.
We do this as a donation to TOG and in the spirit of that donation, we haven't asked for anything in return except some occasional gratitude and acknowledgement.
In the past, people have been happy to help out and assist with cash, and I have always refused, mostly cos I was happy with the arrangement, and didn't need the money and the admin overhead seemed annoying.
Well, we now have a Paypal account, and are happy to accept voluntary donations of any size if people feel they want to show some gratitude. All money donated will go directly to server hosting, and I gotta say, the cost of our hosting is going up (mostly due to power bills), so we are looking closely at the whole operation. Nothing will happen to the TOG arrangement if no-one donates, and we are happy to continue the arrangement for the foreseeable future. To give you an idea how much it takes to run, we would sell a similar specced and bandwidth intensive VPS for about $230/month.

Anyway, if you want to contribute something to the server hosting, please send any amount you like to our paypal account: paypal@sol1.com.au

Thanks for being a great community, and I look forward to many happy games of minecraft and TF2 to come.

[Sorontar]

Thanks to Exe and Sol1's charitable support, we have been able to constantly build our worlds. I ask players to consider sending a bit their way in return for the continual service and hardware we have used.

Thanks Exe.

Sorontar

[DarkDuck]

hmmm I think we are enternilly greatful for the support Exe supplies, so are you tax deductable, lol

[exekewtable]

I can provide a tax invoice if you like. We are a business, so if we provide services for you that add to your ability to produce income, it may be tax deductible. I'm not a lawyer or accountant though!
I'll leave it up to the DC here to decide whether to sticky this or not.

[Maorin]

Originally Posted by exekewtable

I can provide a tax invoice if you like. We are a business, so if we provide services for you that add to your ability to produce income, it may be tax deductible. I'm not a lawyer or accountant though!

<<Cap'n Buzzkill here,

You're in a completely different country than I, so what I know goes right out the window, but at least here in Canada, you have to donate to one of the following to receive a tax write-off:

• registered charities;
• registered Canadian amateur athletic associations;
• registered national arts services organizations;
• tax exempt housing corporations in Canada that provide only low-cost housing for the elderly;
• the United Nations and its agencies;
• prescribed universities outside Canada that are listed on Schedule VIII of the Income Tax Regulations;
• charitable organizations outside Canada to which the Government of Canada has made a gift during the donor's tax year, or in the 12 months immediately before that year; and
• the Government of Canada, a province, a territory, or a municipality; and
• municipal or public bodies performing a function of government in Canada.

Generally speaking, for-profit businesses aren't eligible to issue donation receipts. But again, like Exe said, we are neither accountants nor lawyers.

Buzzkill, out. >>


That said, donate to your hearts content, it's for a great reason. I'll see my way to donate as soon as I can.

[exekewtable]

yeah my idea was a 'donation receipt' would be an invoice for services rendered...
but no worries. I would like to thank everyone who donated so far, its great to see an immediate response!

[Obsi]

I'm also not an accountant, but I'm pretty sure you're right Maorin - you can only claim a tax deduction from something like a charitable donation - not just any old payment you make for something.

You can claim some expenses you incur as a result of your job, however since none of us here are using minecraft as a job, that's not relevant in this case.

[exekewtable]

Originally Posted by Obsi

You can claim some expenses you incur as a result of your job, however since none of us here are using minecraft as a job, that's not relevant in this case.

I dunno about that Obsi... You seem pretty pro at minecraft!

[MadMax]

How do I actually make a paypal donation? I'm used to clicking a button that says PayPal donation and take it from there.

I do have my own paypal account, I will login there and see if I can do it from there.

[EDIT : It was straightforward from my paypal account.. Sent.]

Many thanks for your services exe.

Cheers,
Max

[Sorontar]

I have placed the details of the paypal account in three frequently visited places, should you need to find them.

• Getting Started in TOG Minecraft <-- READ FIRST
• World Maps and Server Status
• TOG Minecraft Server Maps

Sorontar