The Swedish legislation regarding tax reduction for gifts to nonprofit organizations was stated year 2011/12. The legislation includes tax reduction for donors if the gift refers to a nonprofit organization whose work consists with “charity for an economical need” or “scientific research”. To be included as approved recipient the recipient has to apply for approval. This approval includes both an application fee and an annual fee. At present time the application fee is 10 000 SEK and the annual fee is 7 000 SEK.

The purpose with the legislation has been to strengthen the nonprofit organization and to facilitate the collection of gift from other individuals to strengthen the nonprofit organizations independence in the society. The legislation has been criticized for its regulatory elements because it excludes parts of the nonprofit organizations.

The purpose with this thesis has been to study if the legislation fulfills its purpose or if a reformation is needed.

The criteria “charity for an economical need” requires a need in an economical sense. Since this requirement is set, the nonprofit organization who is working in a preventive measure is not included within the legislation. Because of that, a large part of the nonprofit organizations is excluded from the right to tax reduction for the donors. To be an approved recipient you have to pay a high amount in application fee and annual fee. This restricts the legislation to only include the organization with higher profit who expects the tax reduction to pay off with the expectation of more gifts. 

Due to that the legislation is not, according to the author, fulfilling its purpose when a large part of the nonprofit organization is excluded from the right to tax reduction. But it is important to see the legislation as a first step towards a stronger nonprofit sector even if a reformation is needed to fulfill the purpose of the legislation.