The non-profit nature of esports: traffic lights are playing for time, associations are pushing

Two words are missing but crucial: “and e-sports”. They are missing from tax law and are essential to recognize e-sports as a sport and therefore as a charitable activity.

In the coalition agreement, the traffic light government had decided to make electronic sports – because it includes computer games – unprofitable. But this goal does not appear in a draft of the current annual tax law from July, which would introduce a change in tax law – to the dismay of the German E-Sports Association (ESBD). Board member Christopher Flato criticizes: “E-sports, which are so often praised by politicians, are still denied further club-based development.”

Association: Esports “part of the bargaining chip”

E-sports is an organized competition in the gaming community. Not only would non-profit status give the associations social visibility and it would provide tax relief, for example on donations. Traditional sports clubs, such as Bundesliga football teams, could integrate e-sports to avoid losing young talent. Instead, they are currently in danger of losing their non-profit status to an esports team.

The interest group Game also recently called on the coalition to implement the promise in their annual report. Managing director Felix Falk now told the editorial network Germany (RND): “It is not easy to understand why it does not happen when everyone agrees to be traffic light parties: “A From what we hear, eSports is currently part of the bargaining chip.”

E-Sports: FDP accuses traffic light participants of obstruction

When asked by the traffic light parties, the accusation seems to have been confirmed: the FDP accuses the Greens and the SPD of standing in the way of implementation. Maximilian Funke-Kaiser, FDP spokesman in the Bundestag digital committee, told the RND when asked: “It is very sad that this project, which is firmly based in the coalition agreement, has been currently blocked by our coalition partners to provide fees. benefits to interest groups close to the party.”

Sabine Grützmacher, who sits on the digital committee for the Greens, cannot understand the accusation, she told the RND when asked: “As the Greens, we have welcomed on and demanded that the three package parts of the non-profit reform be implemented at all times.”

The non-profit reform that was originally designed had three parts: In addition to e-sports, the traffic light aimed to secure the legal status of non-profits in journalism and for associations that set them itself politically. The former is to be granted through a decree from the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and the latter is to be regulated in the current annual tax law.

SPD: FDP is cherry picking

The SPD digital politician Jens Zimmermann, meanwhile, accuses a certain level of work of the BMF under the leader of the FDP Christian Lindner that he stopped the project: “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome is liberal compared to the tax department of the BMF, the Social Democrats told the RND. Regarding the non-profit reform, he accuses his FDP colleagues of cherry picking. SPD leader Saskia Esken also sees the need for action from Finance Minister Lindner. “I expect the Federal Finance Minister to present a corresponding proposal in good time,” she told the RND.

A spokesperson from the BMF referred to the parliamentary procedure regarding the non-profit status that e-sports could have. The SPD politician Zimmermann hopes to get an agreement in the Bundestag by the end of autumn 2024, and the Green Grützmacher assures: “We Alliance Greens will work to ensure that the three parts of the reform are non- profitable are implemented in the Tax Reform Act.”

For a member of the board of the Flato e-sports association, it is also about the credibility of federal policy: “Many young people see that the promise is being broken. It’s the wrong approach, especially in a time of disillusionment with politics.”