Donating winter clothes in summer? Left hand to right hand? Is the legal representative a member of the Red Cross Society? Multiple response company | location | legal representative

Recently, it was rumored online that a clothing company donated thousands of suits to the Beijing Red Cross, donated winter clothes in the summer, and later donated them back to the company's location by the Red Cross, causing public attention.

On May 31, 2023, the official website of the Beijing Red Cross Society released a detailed list of the use of social donations received in May 2023, which showed that 2611 pieces of donated clothing were donated, with a total amount of more than 1.46 million yuan, with an average of nearly 560 yuan per piece, including down jackets, knitted shirts, leather clothes, etc. The source of the materials was Beijing Wumu Clothing Co., Ltd., which donated to Luxinzhuang Village and Beidahua Village in Zhangjiawan Town, Tongzhou District, Beijing. The project was intended for "disaster relief and relief".

"Summer donation of winter clothes?" "Is donating clothes' left handed over right handed '?" "Is the legal representative of the clothing company a member of the Executive Council of the Beijing Red Cross Society?" In response to questions from netizens, the reporter interviewed the staff of the donated Luxinzhuang Village Committee, Wumu Clothing, and the Beijing Red Cross Society.

Focus 1: Donating winter clothes for summer?

On the afternoon of August 10th, a staff member of Wumu Clothing told reporters that the batch of clothes mentioned in the announcement of the Beijing Red Cross Society were donated in November 2022 and were not received until March 2023. The season for donating clothes is in winter, not the "three dog days donating winter clothes" questioned by netizens. In addition, this batch of clothing was donated to more than 1300 households in Luxinzhuang Village and Beidahua Village in Beijing, not to disaster areas.

Details of the use of social donations received by the Beijing Red Cross Society in May 2023

The above staff explained that due to various reasons such as the impact of the epidemic, company financial illness, and vacation, the company did not report the donation in a timely manner after completing it, so the donation procedures were not completed. Before the public announcement, the village committee also needs to issue proof materials. After completing these procedures, the public announcement will be in May.

Previously, the Beijing Red Cross Society stated in a media interview that the supplies distributed to the relevant villages on May 22nd were not the ones donated on the same day. After the Red Cross Society receives the materials, they must first be stored in the warehouse. The staff will count and check the quantity to see if there are any quality issues. This takes time and it is impossible to distribute the materials received on the same day.

On August 11th, the staff of the Luxinzhuang Village Committee confirmed to reporters that from November 2022 to March 2023, Wumu Clothing did indeed donate clothes to the villagers of the two villages, and the situation is true.

The villagers of Luxinzhuang showed the journalist a news image of the clothing cover donated by Wumu Clothing

Cui Lanxin, Secretary General of the Beijing Chunmiao Charity Foundation, stated that sometimes there may be a certain time difference in the receipt, distribution, and public announcement of donated materials. In order to avoid disputes and doubts, the foundation must enhance the rigor of project management in daily life, and can provide explanations and remarks during public disclosure. For example, when is the specific donation date, when was it distributed, and when was the receipt certificate received? A detailed list can avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

Focus 2: Is donating clothes "left handed over right handed"?

The "May 2023 Social Donation Material Use Details Table" released by the Beijing Red Cross Society in May showed that the recipient units were Luxinzhuang Village and Beidahua Village in Zhangjiawan Town, Tongzhou District, and the registered address of Wumu Clothing Company was also Beidahua Village. Therefore, the coincidence of the destination of the donation with the location of Wumu Clothing has also been questioned.

The registered address of Wumu Clothing Company is also in Beidahua Village

On August 10th, a staff member of Wumu Clothing stated in an interview with reporters that the two locations are indeed the same, and their company's registered address is indeed here, but it is not a matter of turning things from left to right.

"Our boss is a local who started from scratch and has always said that we want to thank the people in our hometown." The above staff member said, "We have donated materials not once. The company has donated disinfectant to the village during the epidemic. In 2018, we also gave money to two villages' elderly people over 80 years old and rice, flour, and oil, but did not do any publicity."

The staff member said that some people say that the company's donation is for tax avoidance, but in fact, the donation not only has no income, but also pays over 100000 yuan in taxes. "In recent years, the company's performance has not been good, with little profit, and it is impossible to offset corporate income tax."

Internal Cover News of Wumu Clothing Factory Store

Article 4 of the Implementation Rules of the Provisional Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Value Added Tax stipulates that if a unit or individual industrial and commercial household donates self produced, commissioned for processing, or purchased goods to other units or individuals without compensation, it shall be deemed as selling goods.

According to Fu Jian, the director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, if a company adopts a physical gift method that is not related to the sales quantity or sales volume, it is generally treated as a tax in terms of taxation. The portion of public welfare donation expenses incurred by enterprises within 12% of the total annual profit is allowed to be deducted when calculating taxable income. Expenses gifted to non public welfare social organizations and non-governmental related departments without compensation are not allowed to be deducted before tax. Value added tax is exempted for units or individual businesses that donate their self-produced, commissioned for processing, or purchased goods through public welfare social organizations, county-level and above people's governments and their constituent departments and directly affiliated institutions, or directly donate them to units and individuals in targeted poverty-stricken areas for free.

Focus 3: Is the legal representative of the company a member of the Executive Council of the Beijing Red Cross Society?

According to the "List of Members of the Executive Council" released on the official website of the Beijing Red Cross Society on March 15, 2021, one member of the Executive Council is named Ji Lianxu. According to Tianyancha data, the legal representative of Wumu Clothing Company is also known as Ji Lianxu.

Wu Mu Clothing staff confirmed to reporters that Ji Lianxu and the company's legal representative are the same person on the list of members of the Executive Council of the Beijing Red Cross Society. The reason why the company leaders have the status of directors is because they are always enthusiastic about public welfare and often participate in donation activities, so they were elected to this honorary position. But it is claimed that Ji Lianxu is not a staff member of the Beijing Red Cross Society, nor does he participate in his daily work, and has not received any salary compensation.

On August 10th, the reporter learned from the relevant staff of the Beijing Red Cross that becoming an executive director requires an election. "Whether one can serve as a director is not only determined from the perspective of the economic value of the donation, but also evaluated from multiple dimensions such as spreading the public welfare cultural concept of the Red Cross Society and contributing to public welfare undertakings. The elected directors do not receive salaries from the Beijing Red Cross Society," said the staff member.

Cui Lanxin stated that according to Article 14 of the Charity Law of the People's Republic of China, major donors and management personnel who engage in transactions with charitable organizations are not allowed to participate in the decision-making of charitable organizations regarding such transactions, and the relevant transaction information should be made public to the society. Meanwhile, according to Article 20 of the Model Text of the Foundation Constitution issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of directors who receive remuneration from the foundation shall not exceed one-third of the total number of directors. Supervisors and directors who have not held full-time positions in the foundation are not allowed to receive compensation from the foundation. In addition, according to Article 21, the directors of this foundation shall not participate in the decision-making of related matters when their personal interests are related to the interests of the foundation.