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I am currently in the process of developing an open-source computer application and it is taking up a lot of my free time, so I would like to get some sort of income from it, even if it is a small amount, however I would still like the program to remain open-source. So I figured that on my website I could add a donation button, but then I thought that, legally, this may not be allowed because, I've always assumed that, a donation is intended to be used for the development of the program/thing it was donated for, but since I have no use for donations for use only with the program, as I am only using only open source modules, and I just want it to be used as a bit more income, would I be allowed to ask for a donation on my website? I thought it might be ok if I specify what the donation is for, but I wanted to check so I didn't do anything illegal.

Thanks in advance for help.

JoeTaxpayer
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AvahW
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1 Answers1

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You can view the donations as helping to pay for your time spent on development, so I don't think there's any moral or legal issue with asking for them.

However you will need to pay tax on them as income, which may involve registering with HMRC as self-employed.

They also won't be tax-deductible for the donors or eligible for gift aid, as you aren't a charity.

Ganesh Sittampalam
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