Re: KickStarter
Subject: Re: KickStarter
From: Clark Robinson <robinsonchicago@gmail.com>
Date: 5/30/10, 16:13
To: Scott Mintz <scott.w.mintz@gmail.com>
CC: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>, Clark Robinson <robinsonchicago@gmail.com>

Scott, don't worry about responding or doing anything between now and your exam, first things first

brain trust = much better, to me

number of participants: 49 people listed on the spreadsheet, Caleb, Barrett and a nice lady who is concerned about stalking [legitimately in her case] are not on it.  The spread sheet (called just "PM" in Google docs, I checked and it shows you as having access) lists people who have expressed interest and the degree of their subsequent interaction varies.

tax issues: an interesting question, I had assumed that there would be no tax consequences or even reporting requirements, as is the case with most small personal gifts:

http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/tax-planning-and-checklists/5533.html

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p950.pdf

However, your question causes me to examine my assumptions and maybe it requires more thought: for instance, I notice that Kickstarter allows you to "sell stuff" such as the project (coincidentally located a few miles from where I sit at the moment) that is sending out warehoused vinyl records in return for contributions--that does not look like like a gift transaction to me. And indeed, if Barrett were to give copy-writing services in return for a contribution, that does not, either.  On the other hand if you give back something that is clearly of much less value than the contribution, a gift exists--for instance, if we give copies of Barrett's book ($14.95 list price) to folks who contribute $50 or more, we may be OK.  Maybe we do not want to give rewards with any measurable value or maybe not even give rewards at all--I could not find a statement on the Kickstarter website that says they are required.

Another scenario that might raise tax issues is that if I understand Kickstarter's business rules, they have control or ownership of the money for at least a moment when they activate their Amazon account transactions for payment to Kickstarter, deduct Kickstarter's 5%, and then forward the balance to Barrett, so if we are oversubscribed and there is $13,000 or more, the rules linked above may kick in because the actual gift is from Kickstarter to Barrett, not directly from the "pledgers" to Barrett..

Kickstarter has a zendesk for questions not answered in their FAQs; I will send them a tax question later this week.

I have started adding content to the blog, more to come, and I will start sharing it more widely later this week--you all can start posting there, too

Barrett you need to join as an author of the blog, I will send you another invitation later today



Clark Robinson
Chicago
217-722-8680

--- @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now


On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 6:50 PM, Scott Mintz <scott.w.mintz@gmail.com> wrote:
I've updated the KickStart file. I've made changes that I believe (1) makes it an easier read for the semi-interested and (2) better reflects the broad goals of PPM. Kindly take note of both the large as well as small changes. We have approximately 3 months from publishing the KickStarter profile to collect our threshold amount or we receive nothing, so I think it would be helpful to launch this before the VF article. Furthermore, I hope to provide a "project update" once the VF article is published.

Finally, please be highly critical of what has been written. I'm not 100% sure, but it is possible this could be viewed as some sort of contract so I want to make sure everything that is published is accurate and well-worded.

Several main points:

I've raised the asking amount from $4K to $10K (mostly to assume tax payments)
I've included that money may be used to pay taxes
I've changed think tank to brain trust (negative connotation?)
I think it's important for Barrett to do a video (KickStarter suggests this as a means of placating scam fears).

A couple major questions:

Will taxes be due on money received? (this may require an expect opinion)
Is 50 participants the most updated number? (I remember seeing 75 in one of Barrett's posts)

Some points of information:

We will need a USA bank account
We will need an Amazon Payments account (not your regular user account)

My exam is this upcoming Saturday so I have no idea how much help I will be until that is over. A great place to start will be to call KickStarter and ask them if they have any knowledge and/or experience with tax implications. Also, it may be necessary/important to sell the idea to them since "We're in Beta and the ability to start projects is limited." (http://www.kickstarter.com/start). If you guys believe this can wait until next week, then I will take care of it personally.