My organisation is eligible for tax receipts: how do I activate them?
If your organisation is of general interest, or a religious association under the French 1905 law, you activate tax receipts in Settings › Tax receipts: a 7-step wizard, the electronic signature of a mandate, then approval by the Donoor team within 1 to 3 working days. After that, every donor automatically receives their tax receipt by email, right after their donation. The service is free.
Is your organisation eligible?
Every organisation can receive donations; only organisations of general interest can issue tax receipts. Three conditions:
- A recognised field: educational, social, humanitarian, sporting, cultural, religious, environmental…
- Not-for-profit management: no profit motive, leaders not paid beyond what the law allows.
- Not a restricted circle: it does not act for a small group, a family or its members alone.
Donoor also checks your organisation in the French public registers:
| Your organisation | Tax receipts on Donoor? |
|---|---|
| Association of general interest (1901 law) | Yes, if it meets the three conditions |
| Religious association (1905 law) | Yes, if its declaration to the Prefect is less than 5 years old |
| Foundation, endowment fund, congregation | Yes, if it is of general interest |
| Association acting only for its members | No, but it can still receive donations |
| Organisation shown as dissolved in the public registers | No |
| Company or other legal form | No |
| Organisation based outside France | No: these receipts relate to French tax |
See also the eligibility criteria in detail and the case of mosques.
Tip: if in doubt, ask the French tax authorities for a tax ruling (rescrit fiscal), free of charge; their answer protects you in the event of an inspection. Your organisation remains solely responsible for its eligibility.
Activating the service step by step
Before you start
- Stripe or PayPal connected and authorised to accept payments (one is enough). Otherwise, the page shows First connect a payment method, with a Connect button.
- Your official number: RNA (W + 9 digits), SIRET (14 digits) or SIREN (9 digits).
- The legal representative (often the chair), who signs the mandate: full name, position and email.
- Religious association: the date of your declaration to the Prefect and, if you have it, the certificate.
- Your tax ruling (optional): PDF, JPG or PNG, 10 MB maximum.
By default, only the owner and the administrators of the organisation have access to it.
The 7 steps of the wizard
- Introduction: open Settings › Tax receipts and click Start.
- Identity: enter your number, click Verify, then confirm the official record with Yes, it's mine.
- Representative: fill in the Full name, the Role (position within the organisation), for example Chair or Imam, and the signatory's email.
- Religious status: if you fall under the 1905 law, switch on My organisation is a religious association (law of 1905) and enter the Date of the declaration to the Prefect (required). The certificate can be added later.
- Tax ruling: upload your tax ruling, or move on to the next step.
- Declarations: tick each sworn declaration, then choose the Nature of my authority: Statutory or Delegated.
- Signature: check the Summary and click Sign my request. Your identity, the time and your IP address are recorded as evidence; do not close the window.
The training module Activating automatic tax receipts shows these steps in video.
Good to know: your answers are saved as you go through the wizard; if you leave it, you won't have to enter everything again. The mobile app shows the status of the service; activation is done on the web dashboard.
Approval by the Donoor team
Once signed, your request goes to the Donoor team, who check your documents (RNA, certificates, tax ruling if any) usually within 1 to 3 working days, then notify you by email. The Tax receipts page tracks your request:
| What you see | What it means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Your request is being reviewed by the Donoor team | Mandate signed, file sent | Nothing: wait for the email |
| Service active | Your donors receive their receipt after each eligible donation | Check your appeals |
| Your request was declined by the Donoor team | The reason appears under Reason given and is sent by email | Make the corrections, then Restart the process |
| Service suspended | New receipts blocked (organisation dissolved, religious declaration expired…) | Follow the email you received |
| Service terminated | Service stopped; receipts already issued remain accessible | Request a new activation |
Once the service is active, View preview shows a receipt exactly as your donors receive it.
Making your appeals tax-deductible
- Payment link: on the Dashboard, Your payment link card › Edit › Options. The Tax deduction option shows the “66% tax-deductible” banner on the donation page: keep it switched on, it encourages people to give more.
- Fundraisers: the Tax-deductible option is ticked automatically on fundraisers created once the service is active. For an older fundraiser, switch it on in its Settings.
- Tickets, memberships and shop: only the extra donation appears on the receipt, unless you have declared the event or the membership rate tax-deductible; a shop purchase never qualifies. See the case of tickets with a counterpart and the case of membership fees.
What the donor receives
- One receipt per donation, based on the official French Cerfa no. 11580 form, with a unique, sequential number.
- Right after the payment, as a PDF attached to the confirmation email, in the name of your organisation and of the legal representative who signed the mandate.
- Provided they entered their full name and address. Otherwise, the thank-you page and the email invite them to complete them, and the receipt is then sent to them.
- In their donor space: on the Transactions page, in the Tax receipt column, they preview and download each receipt as a PDF (to share with them: how to find their tax receipt).
Good to know: the receipt shows the amount paid to your organisation, that is the donation plus the payment fees if the donor chose to cover them, but not the optional support for Donoor, which is not paid to you. Example: €10 donation + €0.50 covered fees + €2 support = €12.50 paid, receipt for €10.50. See also how donors can cover the fees.
Your obligations
Under the mandate, Donoor generates and sends the receipts in your name, keeps them for 10 years and maintains their numbered register. Your organisation remains responsible for:
- Declaring every year, before 5 May of the following year, the donations for which a receipt was issued (form 2070 or demarche.numerique.gouv.fr).
- Keeping for 6 years your eligibility documents: bylaws, general meeting minutes, accounts, activity reports.
- Only issuing receipts for donations without a counterpart: an undue receipt exposes you to a fine of 25% of the amounts wrongly stated (article 1740 A of the French General Tax Code, CGI).
- Renewing the declaration to the Prefect every 5 years (religious associations). A reminder is sent by email 60 days before; without renewal, the service is suspended automatically. Then upload the new certificate in Tax receipts.
- Updating the signatory if the legal representative changes: under Mandate signatory, click Re-sign; the following receipts will carry their name.
You can stop at any time with Deactivate the service: receipts already issued remain valid.
Key takeaways
- Tax receipts are reserved for organisations of general interest based in France, including religious associations.
- Connect Stripe or PayPal, then follow the wizard through to Sign my request.
- The Donoor team reviews your request within 1 to 3 working days.
- Each donor receives one receipt per donation, right after the payment, if they entered their name and address.
- The annual declaration and keeping supporting documents remain your responsibility.