Considering the amount of cash that many huge multinational companies have stashed in Europe to avoid paying US tax on it -- maybe you should move the project to, say England or someplace else -- maybe even the Canary Islands or the Philipines or Russia. Then they could give you lots of money without feeling the hit nearly so much. Of course if they give you some funds that are stored in the US I'd expect that they could claim the donation on their US taxes - as long as you're a non-profit (legally, that is, not just in real life) Best wishes, as always.
Slim - no point coming here as these news stories will testify.
◾A four-month investigation by news agency Reuters revealed that Starbucks reportedly paid just £8.6m in corporation tax in the UK over 14 years - including reporting accounting losses when it was profitable
◾ Google's UK unit paid just £6m to the Treasury in 2011 on turnover of £395m, according to the Telegraph
◾The UK's biggest online retailer Amazon generated sales of more than £3.3bn in the country last year but paid no corporation tax on any of the profits, according to the Guardian
◾ Facebook in the UK paid £238,000 in tax last year, according to its accounts, with most of the company's income believed to be legally going through its European base in Dublin, where corporation tax is lower than the UK
◾ Apple paid less than 2% corporation tax on its profits outside the US, paying $713m (£445m) on foreign pre-tax profits of $36.8bn
◾ US auction site eBay paid only £1.2m in tax in the UK, according to an investigation by the Sunday Times
How do they do it? Any way they can, usually via Liechtenstein, Bermuda, Ireland, Switzerland and other power houses of the global economy
Starbucks for instance buys all its coffee for the UK from Switzerland. Maybe the Swiss grow great coffee. On the other hand maybe it's because Starbucks set up a Swiss based import operation paying low tax there in order to sell it back to itself at a price that reduces it's profit in the UK to almost nothing.
I know you guys wonder why US based global corporates don't provide Ed with more support but the key word is "global" imo. They act globally and will do whatever it takes to maximise overall global profits, so simply appealing to national pride rarely cuts it with them. Show them a business case with numbers that support their sales and marketing plans and they'll listen. No disrespect to them, but that's tough for a team of guys that are first and foremost racers.
It's not just the outright LSR participants who struggle for funding. Even F1 is moving inexorably away from its European roots to countries where governments pick up the tab for reasons of national pride and little else. Their business model now depends on a ever shifting global TV audience rather than local punters and fans. The French GP bit the dust a few years back while Germany has gone the same way this year and there is talk of Monza under threat. Meanwhile, there will be a GP in Azerbaijan next year!!!! Could be a hot bed of international motor sport or it could be all the oil money. Mmmm, wonder which? Who'd have thought that the birthplace of motor sport and the homes of Mercedes Benz and Ferrari could be without home GPs? But as they say in business - follow the money.
I personally wish Ed and the team well whatever happens.
Robin