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Giving Act

Don't leave respect to the free market

The SER report published on Friday 21 April rubs it in nicely: the cultural sector is on the verge of collapse. It is even worse than a year ago. This shows that the patience of a PvdA culture minister over the past four years has not helped. Indeed, Halbe Zijlstra's multiplier of misery is doing its job entirely as expected.... 

New Year's Eve lottery winner overturns culture cuts

A usually reliable source reports that the winner of the New Year's Eve lottery wants to dedicate a significant part of her prize to culture. In this way, she wants to undo the cuts made by Rutte I. Six million will go directly to the Dutch Travel Opera. Another four million is earmarked for a new integral performance of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen. Also scheduled is a revival of Tristan und Isolde... 

VVD: Cultuursector moet meer doen voor hetzelfde geld. En spaarpot inleveren.

Goed, het is altijd nog meer dan voormalig gedoogpartner PVV, die het hele conceptverkiezingsprogramma op een enkel A4’tje  wist te proppen. Maar in de halve pagina die de VVD, ’s lands grootste partij,  aan cultuur besteedt is het eigenlijk erger. Hier is nog overduidelijk de door Wilders en Zijlstra ingegeven rancuneuze lijn jegens alles wat maar naar Nederlandse cultuur ruikt… 

As long as the government sets a bad example, citizens will give nothing

Marketing strategist Halbe Zijlstra has failed. His valiant attempt to use a 'Giving Act' boosting donations from small individuals to arts institutions has backfired. Since 2011, contributions made by ordinary households to cultural institutions fell from 32 euros, to 28 euros on average in 2014. This is according to the survey 'Cultural institutions in the Netherlands: Changes in giving behaviour, donations, fundraising and income between 2011 and 2014', which was presented in a small gathering on Friday 10 June.

Enschede plays library and museum against each other

Everything comes together in Enschede. Revenue models that appear to be based on air, but are defended to the hilt by administrators. Jubilant reports on rising museum visits, but smaller museums are going under. Aldermen acting out of cultural interests, but then playing residents against each other to make draconian decisions. All this to disguise the ruins of Rutte I. A quick recap:... 

Supervisory failure at HET Symphony Orchestra: drama that could have been avoided

The money at HET Symphony Orchestra has run out. Despite all the extra millions from the province and after years of writing off tons of general reserves, the end is in sight. And so the orchestra is scrapping concerts, will be seen less in theatres in Deventer and Zwolle, stops CD recordings and shuns any risky performances. To keep the... 

Performing arts promotion office kaputt

We hebben nog lang niet alle info binnen, maar we hebben inmiddels  genoeg: het Bureau Promotie Podiumkunsten (BPP), gefinancierd door de Vereniging van Schouwburg en Concertgebouw Directies, kapt ermee per 1 oktober. Reden onbekend, maar de malaise in de cultuursector, en vooral de podiumkunsten, zal er vast mee te maken hebben.

Halbe Zijlstra: 'nothing to do with local arts policy'

Halbe Zijlstra is proud of his policy, and keen to come and tell it in front of the entire cultural sector. So on Sunday 26 August, he appeared on stage during the annual 'Paradiso Debate' to reiterate how well things had gone with the 200 million cut in the arts sector. He praised the resilience of the affected art world, and would be happy to do the same again.

Benefit Giving Act, cultural budgets, Brabant, Amsterdam, Arnhem, Eindhoven, Goes, Utrecht et al.

Tax benefits to be gained this year (...) With effect from 2012, under the new Giving Act, there is an additional tax facility for donations (incidental or via periodic donations) to charitable institutions (non-profit organisations) designated as cultural institutions. Those cultural donations may be multiplied by a factor of 125 per cent for the gift deduction. This... 

Fransche School in jeopardy, blind library closed, nibbling on VAT measure via CJP and Volkenkunde/Tropen Institute merger possible

Arnhem - Scepticism over success of cultural heart Rijnboog Arnhem city council has many doubts about the financial feasibility of the Rijnboog arts cluster. (...) [Alderman] assumes 16 million subsidy from the province and another 4 million in contributions from sponsors for the new arts centre containing the Museum of Modern Art Arnhem, the Schouwburg and Focus Filmtheater.... 

Progress news: Give Act no more for culture, Utrecht more expensive and Purmerend stops all subsidies

Tweede Kamer stemt in met Belastingplan 2012 (..) Verder werd ook de aangepast Geefwet aangenomen. De 7 miljoen euro fiscale steun verschuift van culturele instellingen naar sport- en muziekverenigingen. Bron: Belasting.nl    18 nov 11   Utrecht – Cultuur mag wat kosten – door Wouter de Heus (..) toen ik deze week eindelijk de hernieuwde exploitatieopzet van het Muziekpaleis in… 

Bare-bones news: Give Act turned from monstrosity into monster, Brabant short 30% on performing arts, North Beveland no longer buys art.

Kamer wijzigt giftenaftrek in cultuursector (..) Een meerderheid van de Kamer wil de kabinetsplannen voor fiscale aftrek in de culturele sector beperken. Tegelijkertijd moeten het fiscaal aantrekkelijker worden om giften te doen aan sport- en muziekverenigingen. VVD, CDA en PVV hebben daarvoor dinsdag wijzigingsvoorstellen ingediend op de Geefwet van staatssecretaris Frans Weekers (Financiën). (..) De PVV vond dat veel te… 

Concertgebouw juicht over falende aandelenemissie

Het Concertgebouw liet gisteren juichend weten dat de aandelenemissie van september jl een doorslaand succes was. Immers, van de 1000 aandelen van 12.500 € waren er 400 besteld. Bijna 5 miljoen euro van particulieren binnengeharkt. Voorwaar geen geringe prestatie in dit zuinige landje, waarin iedereen klaagt dat mecenaat niets uitricht. De media, waaronder het Amsterdamse Parool, namen het juichbericht even… 

Noodkreet theaterschool Roosendaal op valreep, Kunstplaats Veenendaal geschrapt. Kortingsnieuws uit alle regio’s

(..) De Jeugdtheaterschool Roosendaal ontving in 2010 en 2011 een projectsubsidie van 36.779 euro van de gemeente. De school vervult ook een regiofunctie. Van de 330 leerlingen komt veertig procent uit de omliggende dorpen. Het voorstel is de subsidie per 1 januari te beëindigen. Pas deze week is dat kennelijk bij de directie van Hofplein doorgedrongen. Die startte meteen een… 

Sports sponsor pays top price, culture sponsor sits front row for a pittance and expects no less

The smallest opera company in the Netherlands beats the biggest. Not in visitor numbers, not in subsidy received, but in bringing in sponsorship money. On closer inspection, however, it becomes painfully clear once again that there is no giving culture in the Netherlands and sponsorship is limited to a pittance. A rattling giving law will not change that.

Had the cabinet been a restaurant and the country's connoisseurs Johannes van Dam, Rutte could have closed the joint.

A nice side effect of the Giving Act is that it gives the tax authorities a vital role when it comes to determining what is art, and what is not. That was the outcome of the hearing on Tuesday 11 October in the House of Representatives. The MPs there listened to people from the philanthropic sector and tax experts in turn. Outcome of the two... 

Record amount of donations for New York Metropolitan Opera, but ticket sales down for years

The New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Opera in New York has brought in record donations this fiscal year. The tally stands at $182 million. This is 50 per cent more than the previous year. However, revenue from ticket sales has been declining for a few years. In addition, since general manager Peter Gelb took office, spending patterns have been soaring.... 

Henk and Ingrid screwed again: Dutch tax advisers burn new Giving Act to the ground

The new Giving Act, the cultural palliative with which the Rutte Cabinet claims to be accommodating the art world, is flawed. We don't say this, because we only know about art, but this is what the Dutch tax consultants say. And they know a lot about your taxes, and little about art. Extremely reliable, in other words. And what virtues... 

"1 billion loss? There are other figures." Halbe Zijlstra refers Berenschot report to trash.

At the end of August came the figures. And what figures they were. Due to the stacking of extreme cuts by government, provinces and municipalities, the abolition of the successful Work and Income for Artists Act and the equally successful culture card, plus the VAT increase on the arts, the Netherlands' cultural sector would end up missing out on €1 billion in revenue. Berenschot had estimated that in... 

Budget note: We put together the cultural haircut percentages

Let's start again with yet another sloppiness of the Rutte government: that damned VAT measure on the arts, which are the only ones to be bounced to the 'normal' rate of 19%. VVD doesn't like it, CDA isn't happy about it, but, because tolerance specialist Martin Bosma once had to play a red toadstool in the school play, he has eternal... 

Kunstbegroting behandeld in tweede kamer: nauwelijks discussie over 200 miljoen korting op podiumkunst

We waren op 13 december 2010 bij een even onopvallende als historische Haagse debatdag: het ging over de begroting van het Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen van het (eerste?) kabinet-Rutte en dat was de begroting waarin op verzoek van gedoogpartij PVV het te bezuinigen bedrag op het kunstbudget op 200 miljoen werd gesteld, waarbij erfgoed en musea dienden te… 

The arts subsidy system is like a house that changes hands a little too often: new cultural policy Rutte cabinet is capital destruction

The art subsidy system is like a house that changes hands a little too often. In 2008, after long deliberations, the previous owner fitted a new kitchen, replaced the bathroom, installed a new central heating boiler + underfloor heating and freshly painted the exterior. However, he had to move out prematurely, and now the new owner plans to replace the old kitchen... 

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