At the turn of the 1990s and 2000s, many countries in Central and Eastern Europe began to implement a “tax designation mechanism” (“percentage philanthropy”) to support the development of civil society.

The mechanism allows each taxpayer to deduct part of his/her income tax (say, 2% out of 18% of personal income tax) to finance an NGO or charitable organization, and in some countries in favor of a religious organization (https://cutt.ly/ATa89pC).

Ukraine’s long experience in the tax designation mechanism demonstrates another important advantage in addition to tax education. The tax designation mechanism is a means for the citizens to influence decision-making in the state. After all, taxpayers get the opportunity to initiate and advocate for any decision at both the local and state levels, simply by supporting civil society organizations, and thus control their activities.

Here is an infographic on the functioning of the tax designation mechanism in Hungary, Slovakia and Poland as of 2021.

The information was provided by the European Center for Non-Profit Law (ECNL) as part of their cooperation in the project “Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity”.