Corporate cultural sponsorship

Last update

Corporate cultural sponsorship emphasizes the general interest role of businesses in addition to their economic role. It is defined as a financial, human or material support provided without compensation by a business to any activity in the creative arts and culture sector.

In Luxembourg, donations from public and private sources are collected and managed by the National Culture Fund (Fonds culturel national - Focuna) which acts as an intermediary between the cultural world and the corporate world by accompanying both artists and entrepreneurs in their willingness to enhance their contribution to the community.

 Businesses can participate in different cultural projects through:

  • financial sponsorship (cash donations);
  • sponsorship in kind or product donations (donations in kind);
  • technological sponsorship;
  • skills sponsorship;
  • sponsorship of grants.

In order to promote sponsorships, the law provides for tax reductions for financial sponsorships or donations to the culture sector in Luxembourg.

Who is concerned

Each business can become a patron of the arts, i.e. support and contribute to the financing of activities in the creative sector in order to:

Each cultural institution declared of public interest is allowed to receive donations in kind or in cash via the National Culture Fund. Some examples are:

  • the Institut grand-ducal;
  • the Centre universitaire de Luxembourg;
  • the Luxembourg National Archives;
  • the State and public museums;
  • the national library and other public libraries;
  • the National Sites and Monuments Service, etc.

Each cultural institution declared of public interest may request that its activities are accredited by the National Culture Fund;.

How to proceed

Sponsorship types

A business that intends to become a sponsor can chose between:

  • financial sponsorships, i.e. give money to a project of general interest;
  • sponsorships in kind or product donations, i.e. the donation of merchandise in stock or fixed assets (e.g.: furniture, art objects, etc.);
  • technological sponsorships, a specific form of sponsorship in kind which consists in offering the technology available or used by the business to a project of general interest (e.g.: machinery, software, etc.);
  • skills sponsorships, i.e. assigning an employee during their working hours to a project of general interest.

Financial sponsorship

Beneficiaries

The company can make a donation in cash to the National Culture Fund:

  • either without specifying the final beneficiary;
  • or by appointing as a beneficiary:
Cash donations to these institutions are tax deductible provided that the business has made an annual donation of at least EUR 120.

Purpose of donations 

These cash donations whose amount cannot be lower than EUR 50 are used to finance cultural events that:

  • present a significant interest for the creative arts and culture sector, namely music, theatre, cinema, dance, literature, visual arts or conservation and the promotion of the national historic and cultural heritage;
  • are aimed at a larger public;
  • do not have a commercial or industrial purpose.

Procedure 

Each business that wishes to make a cash donation to the National Culture Fund (or to any other institution declared of public interest via the National Culture Fund) has to first complete the application for admissibility of a donation (demande de recevabilité d'un don).

On receipt of the application, the steering committee of the National Culture Fund will decide on the admissibility of the donation in accordance with the abovementioned criteria and on its value. The Fund will forward its reasoned decision to the applicant within 3 months from the application.

Subject to approval of the application, the sponsor can send the donation via bank transfer to the National Culture Fund who will ensure the funds are transferred to the final beneficiary.

The business must have made an annual donation of at least EUR 120 in order to benefit from a tax deduction. The Fund will issue a certificate of donation that will enable the sponsor to benefit from a tax deduction.

Application for accreditation

Each cultural association or institution may request that its activities are accredited by the National Culture Fund.

Donors who wish to support an accredited activity are exempt from having to complete the application for admissibility of a donation.

The application for accreditation, duly motivated and documented, is assessed by the steering committee of the National Culture Fund who will make its decision within 3 months from the application. 

The accreditation is granted for a period of 24 months and the application for renewal must be submitted 3 months prior to the expiry date of the accreditation at the latest.

Example: the National Library may request that its activities are accredited by the National Culture Fund. Each natural or legal person who wishes to make a donation to the National Library is exempt from having to complete a prior application for admissibility of the donation.

Donations in kind

Eligible donations

A business can make the following donations in kind:

  • art objects;
  • furniture;
  • books;
  • collector's items;
  • documents of high cultural, artistic or historic value.

Beneficiaries

The business can make the following donations in kind to the National Culture Fund:

  • either without specifying a final beneficiary, in which case the Fund will use the donation to finance various cultural projects under its management;
  • or by appointing as a beneficiary:

Admissibility of the donation

Donations are subject to approval by an interministerial commission and, depending on the case, by an expert who will decide on the cultural, artistic or historic interest of the donation, as well as on the value of the donated item. The commission will decide on the tax deductibility of the donations.

Grants

Businesses can sponsor and contribute to the financing of grants offered by the National Culture Fund in order to promote research and provide artists with the necessary resources to carry out different activities which are in relation to their artistic approach.

The sponsorship of grants:

  • transmits a positive and committed image of the business to both the public and the employees;
  • is an excellent motivation and identification tool for employees in a business as the sponsorship develops their pride in belonging to a noble cause;
  • unites the employees in a collective positive force as, for instance, within the selection process of one or more beneficiaries of a grant, an employee can be a member of the jury and embody the cultural commitment of the business.

Tax deduction

Conditions 

As a general rule, only cash donations are tax deductible.

However, donations in kind (merchandise or fixed assets) may exceptionally benefit from a tax deduction following the approval by an interministerial commission and, where necessary, by an expert.

In order to be tax deductible, donations have to be made to a cultural institution declared of public interest by law, such as:

  • the National Culture Fund;
  • the Institut grand-ducal;
  • the Centre universitaire de Luxembourg;
  • the Luxembourg National Archives;
  • the State and public museums;
  • the national library and other public libraries;
  • the National Sites and Monuments Service;
  • or any other cultural institution declared of public interest.

Procedure

Donations must be indicated in the section "dépenses spéciales" in the tax return under certain conditions:

  • the amount of annual donations by the business must be at least EUR 120;
  • the annual deductible amount cannot exceed 20 % of the total net income and the total amount of EUR 1,000,000;
  • where this limit is exceeded, the balance can be carried forward to the following 2 tax years;
  • non-resident taxpayers who are treated as resident taxpayers can request the deduction of their donations within the framework of their annual tax assessment;
  • donations in excess of EUR 30,000 transferred by a banking institution which is not authorised to operate in the European Union must be approved by a ministerial order issued by the Ministry of Justice. The application for approval must be submitted to the Ministry of Justice by the beneficiary of the donation.

Who to contact

National Culture Fund (Focuna)

Related procedures and links

Procedures

Corporate Social Responsibility

Links

Further information

Legal references

  • Loi du 4 mars 1982

    a) portant création d'un Fonds Culturel National b) modifiant et complétant les dispositions fiscales tendant à promouvoir le mécénat et la philanthropie

  • Règlement grand-ducal modifié du 4 juin 2004

    fixant les conditions, critères et modalités d'agrément par le comité directeur du Fonds culturel national d'activités pour lesquelles il peut recevoir des dons en espèces

Your opinion matters to us

Tell us what you think of this page. You can leave us your feedback on how to improve this page. You will not receive a reply to your feedback. Please use the contact form for any specific questions you might have.

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

Did you find what you were looking for?*
How would you rate this page?*
Very poor
Very good

Leave a comment to help us improve this page. Do not provide any personal information such as your email address, name, telephone number, etc.

0/1000

Please rate this page

Your opinion has been submitted successfully!

Thank you for your contribution. If you need help or have any questions, please use the contact form.

Would you like to help us make digital public services more user-friendly by submitting your suggestions for improvement?

Then visit Zesumme Vereinfachen, the online participation platform dedicated to administrative simplification in Luxembourg.

Let's simplify things together

An error occurred

Oops, an error has occurred.