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IRS Looking at Google/Mozilla Relationship

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the can't-imagine-why dept.

ric482 writes "With the release of the Mozilla Foundation's 2007 financial report, questions have been raised by the IRS, who are due to perform an audit on the non-profit organization behind the massively popular Firefox browser. Last year, the Foundation received $66 million of its total $75 million revenue (88 percent) from search engine maestros Google, so the IRS are looking for blood over the organization's tax exempt status. Back in 2006, Mozilla got $59.5 million from Google — around 85 percent of the organization's revenue. Google and Mozilla are part of a 'you scratch my back, I'll pay your bills' sort of agreement, with the Google search bar firmly placed in the toolbar, and on the default homepage. Things were a bit rocky a couple of months back when Google unveiled the Beta-run of its Chrome browser, but Mozilla and Google hugged it out and sealed a deal that will last for another three years. That deal will expire in November 2011."

8 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. Link? by VisualD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would it kill you to put a link in there somewhere?
    http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/documents/mf-2007-audited-financial-statement.pdf

  2. nothing wrong with corp. support for OpenSource by AlphaZeta · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To me, there shouldn't be much a fuss about big corporates supporting open source. In fact, I think there should be more involvement (financially) for those big companies who no doubt have benefited from the open source community. As long as the licensing remains open source, everything is transparent...

  3. Soooo by zifferent · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They give away the browser and spend all of their revenue on development. So, how much taxable profit did the Mozilla foundation make anyway? The IRS has nothing to gain from this. I smell a rat closeby!

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    cat sig > /dev/null
    1. Re:Soooo by Jellybob · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've never really wondered that. The OEMs are buying Windows licenses in batches of several thousand, on a regular basis.

      It's standard business practice to give discounts to customers who provide you with a large, regular, income.

  4. Why go after Mozilla? by Andr+T. · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...and not after some other fictional 'non-profit' organizations?

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    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

  5. Re:Blame Microsoft by pipatron · · Score: 4, Insightful

    but that's OK because it's the same company?

    Exactly. The issue here is that Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization, but Google clearly is not. Presumably IRS could be interested in exactly how close ties they have.

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    c++; /* this makes c bigger but returns the old value */
  6. Where's the smoke? by Dare+nMc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Since Google is a profitable entity isn't this tax neutral to google? IE if Google and mozilla merged, and Google spent the same amount on development, and giving as mozilla does, google would have the same profit, and thus pay the same taxes. The only difference would be some of the last 15% (non google contributions.) Since individuals can write off gifts to Mozilla foundation, but not to google then that's the money the IRS is chasing, not googles portion of the pie.

  7. Stop the Debian Bullshit by CritterNYC · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Honestly, stop with the Debian bullshit already. Mozilla doesn't want others altering their software and still keeping their trademarks intact (which is what Debian wants to do). Debian places the *EXACT* same restrictions on their own trademarks.

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    Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc