Background
During the tax-exemption review, the Cantonal Tax Office of Zürich raised concerns about the wording on compensation for Board members.
In our clarification of 4 August 2026, we stated that the current wording of Art. 15 is broader than the intended governance model and that Board members should:
- serve without remuneration;
- be entitled only to reimbursement of effective/actual expenses and cash outlays; and
- receive no compensation for special, operational, or professional services.
The Cantonal Tax Office confirmed on 6 August 2026 that these clarifications were sufficient to continue the application and sent it to a second consultation. On 27 August 2026, it confirmed that TextRefs can expect tax exemption provided the association is founded in the manner presented, and requested only the signed statutes and founding minutes after incorporation.
To keep the change as small as possible, only Art. 15 of the statutes should be amended. No change to Art. 12 or other substantive provisions is proposed.
The German statutes are legally binding; the English version is a convenience translation and should be kept in sync.
Proposed change
German (src/content/docs/de/association/statutes.mdx)
Replace the body of Art. 15 with:
Die Mitglieder des Vorstandes sind ehrenamtlich tätig und haben nur Anspruch auf Ersatz ihrer effektiven Spesen und Barauslagen. Eine Entschädigung für besondere oder operative Leistungen ist ausgeschlossen.
Einzelheiten regelt ein Spesen- und Vergütungsreglement.
English (src/content/docs/association/statutes.mdx)
Replace the corresponding body of Art. 15 with:
The members of the Board serve in an honorary capacity and are entitled only to reimbursement of their actual expenses and cash outlays. Compensation for special or operational services is excluded.
Details are governed by an expense and compensation regulation.
Rationale
This change makes the statutes match the representation made to the Zürich tax authorities during the tax-exemption procedure, while deliberately avoiding broader changes to the governance text.
The purpose is not to redesign the statutes, but to remove the existing possibility of compensating Board members for “special services”, because that wording is broader than the model on which the authority's positive feedback was based.
Acceptance criteria
Background
During the tax-exemption review, the Cantonal Tax Office of Zürich raised concerns about the wording on compensation for Board members.
In our clarification of 4 August 2026, we stated that the current wording of Art. 15 is broader than the intended governance model and that Board members should:
The Cantonal Tax Office confirmed on 6 August 2026 that these clarifications were sufficient to continue the application and sent it to a second consultation. On 27 August 2026, it confirmed that TextRefs can expect tax exemption provided the association is founded in the manner presented, and requested only the signed statutes and founding minutes after incorporation.
To keep the change as small as possible, only Art. 15 of the statutes should be amended. No change to Art. 12 or other substantive provisions is proposed.
The German statutes are legally binding; the English version is a convenience translation and should be kept in sync.
Proposed change
German (
src/content/docs/de/association/statutes.mdx)Replace the body of Art. 15 with:
English (
src/content/docs/association/statutes.mdx)Replace the corresponding body of Art. 15 with:
Rationale
This change makes the statutes match the representation made to the Zürich tax authorities during the tax-exemption procedure, while deliberately avoiding broader changes to the governance text.
The purpose is not to redesign the statutes, but to remove the existing possibility of compensating Board members for “special services”, because that wording is broader than the model on which the authority's positive feedback was based.
Acceptance criteria