Are my received donations subject to tax?

In virtually most cases, there are no tax consequences when raising money through crowdfunding. Donations are gifts given without consideration and as such are non-taxable. Always check the tax authorities in the country where you file taxes for the exact rules and conditions.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, as a recipient, you generally do not have to pay tax on donations, provided they stay below the annual exemption limits.
✅ General exemption per donor:
In 2026, everyone can receive up to €2,769 per donor per calendar year tax-free in donations/gifts. As long as individual donations remain under this amount, you can raise unlimited total amounts (e.g., €100,000) without paying gift tax. Read the following article on this from the tax authorities.
✅ Partners count as 1 donor:
If you receive gifts from individuals who are fiscal partners according to the Tax Administration, their donations will be added together. The total amount may then not exceed €2,769 per year. Read the following article on this from the tax authorities.
✅ Gifts from parents:
In 2026, parents may gift a higher amount tax-free to their child (including foster or stepchildren), namely €6,908 per year. Read the following article on this from the tax authorities.
✅ Exceptions / Hardship clause:
Do you receive an incidental donation from one specific person that exceeds the exemption? If the campaign is intended for necessary living expenses or urgent medical treatment abroad (not covered by insurance), a request for waiver of gift tax can be submitted to the State Secretary for Finance.
✅ ANBI & SBBI organizations:
If the recipient of the donations is a recognized ANBI (Public Benefit Organization), a full exemption from gift tax applies. An SBBI (Social Interest Promoting Institution) must in principle file a tax return if the amount exceeds the exemption.

More information about gift tax and crowdfunding: Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst): Belastingdienst

Belgium

In Belgium, private online donations made via bank transfer fall under so-called manual gifts or bank gifts (indirect gifts).
✅ No registration requirement:
A bank gift is a purely banking transaction. There is no legal obligation to register online donations, which means no gift tax or registration duties are owed.
✅ Income tax:
As long as the donations are incidental and no consideration is provided in return, they are fully exempt from personal income tax.

More information: Federale Overheidsdienst Financiën (FOD) 

Germany

In Germany, raising money as a private individual falls under the Gift Tax Act (Erbbaustand- und Schenkungsteuergesetz - ErbStG).
✅ Exemption per person:
Every recipient has a tax-free allowance (Freibetrag) of €20,000 per donor over a 10-year period (§ 16 ErbStG).
✅ Family relationships:
For gifts within direct family relationships, these tax-free thresholds are significantly higher.
✅ Tax declaration:
Only if a single donor donates more than €20,000 within a 10-year period must gift tax (Schenkungsteuer) be paid on the excess amount.

More information: In Germany, depending on your place of residence, you must consult the tax office of the relevant federal state (Finanzämter). You can find the correct tax office via the central website of the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern): Bundeszentralamt für Steuern.

Austria

In Austria, you do not pay gift tax on donations received as a private individual. However, an administrative reporting requirement applies for very large gifts from a single person.
✅ 0% Tax:
Donations via a crowdfunding campaign are completely tax-free. You do not have to pay income tax or gift tax on the amounts received.
✅ Reporting requirement for large amounts (> €15,000):
Do you receive a total of more than €15,000 from one specific person over a 5-year period? Then you are legally obliged to report this within 3 months to the Austrian tax office (FinanzOnline). This is strictly a notification and costs you nothing.
✅ Small & normal donations:
Individual donations of tens or hundreds of euros from different people fall well below the threshold and do not need to be reported.

More information: Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium für Finanzen): Bundesministerium Finanzen

France

Small-scale donations via an online campaign are generally not taxed.
✅ Small and customary gifts (Présent d'usage):
Donations from friends, family, or supporters that match the occasion and the donor's income are considered a 'customary gift'. You do not have to pay tax on this, nor do you need to declare it.
✅ Large gifts from 1 person:
Do you receive an unusually high amount from one specific person (for example, thousands of euros)? This can be viewed by the French tax authorities as a formal gift (don manuel). In that case, the recipient must declare it to the tax authorities (impots.gouv.fr).
✅ Income tax:
As long as you raise money as a private individual without providing anything in return (such as selling goods or services), donations are not taxed as income.

More information: Directorate General of Public Finances (Direction générale des Finances publiques): Direction générale des Finances publiques

United Kingdom

In the UK, gifts and donations to private individuals are fundamentally exempt from income tax and gift tax.
✅ No Income Tax:
Donations received as a private individual from supporters, friends, or family are viewed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as voluntary gifts. As long as you do not provide goods, services, or business considerations in return, you pay 0% income tax on them.
✅ Gift tax (Inheritance Tax / PETs):
There is no direct gift tax in the UK like in the Netherlands or France. However, a gift falls under the Potentially Exempt Transfers (PETs) rule.
This means a donation from a specific person can only become subject to Inheritance Tax if the donor dies within 7 years of making the gift and their total estate exceeds the tax-free threshold.
For the vast majority of crowdfunding campaigns, this has no practical tax consequences whatsoever.
✅ No filing requirement:
You do not need to report small or normal donations via an online campaign to the tax authority (HMRC) in the UK.

More information: Government Digital Service: Government Digital Service

Other countries: Consult local tax authorities.

Netherlands & Belgium

The tax authorities apply the following rules:

Germany & Austria

• Commercial businesses: A commercial enterprise (Gewerbebetrieb) that receives money without consideration must book this as business income (Betriebseinnahme). You pay regular Income Tax / Corporate Tax (Einkommensteuer / Körperschaftsteuer) on this, and in Germany also Trade Tax (Gewerbesteuer).
• Gift tax (Schenkungssteuer): If a gift to a German business serves no business purpose, the German tax authority may even classify it as a taxable gift (Schenkung), which may attract high gift tax rates if not taxed as business income.
• VAT: The rule applies here too: no consideration = no VAT (Umsatzsteuer).

France

• Profit tax: Gifts to commercial enterprises are classified as taxable profit (produits imposables).
• VAT: Exempt from VAT (TVA) if there is no consideration (sans contrepartie).

United Kingdom

In the UK, there is an important exception:

• Trades / Businesses: A donation to a commercial business is not always treated as 'trading income' by HMRC if it is a purely voluntary gift without the business performing any service in return.
• Under specific conditions, it may be exempt from Corporation Tax, provided it is an unsolicited gift that does not replace normal revenue or cover specific operational costs.
• Is it used to cover operational expenses? Then it is taxable as business income.

Tip: See also the following article on tax deductibility and this article for information on a certificate (attest) or proof of donation