diff --git a/documents/policies/external/Dues System.md b/documents/policies/external/Dues System.md index 5996da78..7687a98f 100644 --- a/documents/policies/external/Dues System.md +++ b/documents/policies/external/Dues System.md @@ -1,60 +1,63 @@ # WCA Dues System Policy -### Version 1.7 {.version} +### Version 1.9 {.version} ## Purpose -The WCA Dues System is a policy by which the WCA will collect revenue on a per-competitor-per-competition basis from WCA Delegates and/or Regional Organizations in order to further the Mission and the Spirit of the WCA. The policy intends that WCA Delegates and/or Regional Organizations will fund the amount owed either by charging registration fees to their competitors, soliciting competition sponsors, or by using some other means of collecting money on behalf of their respective countries. +The WCA Dues System is a program by which the WCA will collect revenue on a per-competitor-per-competition basis from WCA Delegates and/or Regional Organizations in order to further the Mission and the Spirit of the WCA. The policy intends that WCA Delegates and/or Regional Organizations will fund the amount owed either by charging registration fees to their competitors, soliciting competition sponsors, or by using some other means of collecting money on behalf of their respective communities. ## Policy -1. Any WCA Delegate who delegates will be responsible for paying Dues after the competition has finished - 1. Exception: a Regional Organisation may nominate themselves to be responsible for the payment of WCA dues in the region in which they cover. - 2. Exception: WCA World Championships, WCA Continental Championships, and 3x3x3 Fewest Moves simultaneous competitions that take place in more than one country are exempt from paying Dues - 3. Exception: at the discretion of the WCA Financial Committee (WFC) competitions in a particular country or set of countries may be exempt from paying Dues based on the number of competitions held in that country to date or due to economic and/or currency instability or challenges with making payment to the WCA. See Appendix B. -2. WCA Delegates or Regional Organizations may allow the competition organizers or other official organization to pay the Dues on their behalf. - 1. It is the responsibility of the WCA Delegate(s) or Regional Organization to ensure that the invoice is paid on time, even if it will be paid by someone else. -3. After a WCA Delegate submits the results for their competition and the results are posted by the WCA Results Team (WRT), the WCA Financial Committee (WFC) will send the Delegate or Regional Organization an invoice detailing the total Due amount owed. - 1. WCA Delegate(s) or Regional Organization will have 30 days to pay the invoice counting from the time the invoice was sent. - 2. If payment is not received by 30 days, the Delegate or Regional Organization is considered late on their dues payment. - 1. Delegates or Regional Organizations who are not able to pay their Dues within 30 days should contact the WFC with a reason why payment cannot be made on time. - 1. Invoices not paid within 60 days of the date issued may be subject to disciplinary action. - 1. On a case-by-case basis the WFC will evaluate if the Delegate is experiencing an exceptional circumstance for why payment cannot be made on time. In such cases, special accommodations may be made on a one-time basis including but not limited to: delaying the due date for payment, or waiving the Dues amount in part or in full. - 2. If Delegates do not have a valid reason for the late payment (i.e. an exceptional circumstance), then the Delegates will not be allowed to announce any new competitions or place any new gear orders as Delegate until their outstanding balance is paid. - 2. Delegates with chronically late payments will be referred to their Senior Delegates for follow-up to ensure that future Dues are received on time. - 1. Frequent late payments may result in disciplinary action. - 3. WCA Delegates or Regional Organizations may pay the Due amount using either PayPal, bank transfer or Stripe (card payment). - 1. Details for how to make these payments will be included in the invoice sent to the Delegate. -4. The Due amount owed for a competition will be calculated on a per-competitor-per-competition basis. - 1. Each competition will have a per-competitor Due amount owed. - 2. The total amount owed for the competition will be the per-competitor Due amount owed multiplied by the number of competitors who participated in the competition. - 3. The per-competitor Due amount will be the higher of the Due amount based on the country band and the Due amount based on registration fees, see Appendix A - +1. Any WCA Delegate who delegates a competition will be responsible for paying Dues after the competition has finished. + 1. Exception: a Regional Organization may nominate itself to be responsible for the payment of WCA Dues in the region which they cover. + 2. Exception: World Championships, Continental Championships, and 3x3x3 Fewest Moves simultaneous competitions that take place in more than one country are exempt from paying Dues. + 3. Exception: at the discretion of the WCA Board, National Championships in certain countries may be exempt from paying Dues. + 4. Exception: at the discretion of the WCA Financial Committee (WFC), competitions in certain countries may be exempt from paying Dues based on the criteria in Appendix B. +2. WCA Delegates or Regional Organizations may allow the competition organizers or some other individual or organization involved with the competition to pay the Dues on their behalf. It remains the responsibility of the WCA Delegate(s) or Regional Organization to ensure that the invoice is paid on time, even if it will be paid by someone else. + 1. Exception: Individuals residing in and organizations based in countries subject to financial restrictions under the WCA Regional Restrictions Policy may not pay the Dues on behalf of a WCA Delegate or Regional Organization. + 2. Exception: A WCA Delegate whose assigned country is subject to financial restrictions under the WCA Regional Restrictions Policy who delegates a competition in a country not subject to financial restrictions must have an individual or organization not subject to financial restrictions pay the Dues on their behalf. +3. After a WCA Delegate submits the results for a competition and the results are posted by the WCA Results Team (WRT), the WFC will send a Delegate of the competition or the responsible Regional Organization an invoice detailing the total Dues amount owed. + 1. The WCA Delegate(s) or Regional Organization will have 30 days to pay the invoice from the date the invoice was sent. If payment is not received within 30 days of the date issued, the Delegate or Regional Organization is considered late on their Dues payment. + 1. Delegates or Regional Organizations who are not able to pay their Dues within 30 days should contact the WFC as soon as possible with a reason why payment cannot be made on time. + 1. On a case-by-case basis, the WFC will evaluate if the Delegate or Regional Organization is experiencing an exceptional circumstance preventing timely payment. In such cases, special accommodations may be made on a one-time basis, including but not limited to officially extending the due date for payment or waiving the Dues amount in part or in full. + 2. A Delegate with one or more late outstanding Dues payments is subject to probation according to the WCA Delegate Probationary Status Policy. + 2. WCA Delegates or Regional Organizations may pay the Dues amount using PayPal, Stripe (card payment), or bank transfer. + 1. Details for how to make these payments will be included in the invoice sent to the Delegate or Regional Organization. + 2. Invoices paid via bank transfer will receive a 2% rebate, provided in the form of credit that can be applied to future Dues invoices. + 3. The Dues amount owed for a competition will be calculated on a per-competitor basis. + 1. Each competition will have a per-competitor Dues amount owed, calculated according to Appendix A. + 2. The total amount owed for the competition will be the per-competitor Dues amount owed multiplied by the number of competitors who participated in the competition. ## Appendix A {.page-break-before} -### Detailed description of how per-competitor due amounts are calculated -To calculate the Due amount owed for a competition, the following procedure will be used: - -1. The country used to determine the Due amount is the country in which the competition takes place. - 1. For 3x3x3 Fewest Moves simultaneous competitions that take place in more than one country, the Due amount will be waived. -2. Countries will be grouped together into 6 Bands based on their Cost of Living values.
Countries are assigned to a band according to [this list](wca{wfc/country-bands}) with updates made periodically at the discretion of the WFC. -3. To determine the per-competitor Due amount based on the country band, look up the competition’s band, then find its per-competitor price using [this list](wca{wfc/country-bands}). - 1. The per-competitor price for Band 5 is called the Base Due amount. The per-competitor price for all other bands is a fraction of the Base Due amount. - 2. The Base Due amount is an amount set per this policy at USD $3. All other band Due amounts will be amounts less than this amount as determined by the WFC. - 1. Countries in Band 0 do not owe Dues to the WCA for any competitions held while that country maintains Band 0 status. - 1. See Appendix B for an explanation of how Band 0 will be used by the WFC. -4. The Due amount based on registration fees will be: - 1. For bands 3, 4, and 5 countries: equal to 15% of base registration fee as stated on the WCA website, converted to US Dollars. - 2. For bands 1 and 2 countries: equal to 5% of the base registration fee as stated on the WCA website, converted to US Dollars. - 3. For band 0 countries: zero -5. The final Due amount per competitor will be the higher of the Due amount based on the country band and the Due amount based on registration fees. +### Detailed description of how per-competitor Dues amounts are calculated +1. A competition’s per-competitor Dues amount will be the Dues amount based on the country band OR the Dues amount based on registration fees, whichever is greater, as calculated below. +2. The country used to determine the per-competitor Dues amount is the country in which the competition takes place. + 1. 3x3x3 Fewest Moves simultaneous competitions that take place in more than one country are exempt from paying Dues. +3. Countries are assigned into one of six bands with an associated per-competitor Dues amount, with updates made periodically at the discretion of the WFC. + 1. The per-competitor Dues amount for Band 5 is called the Base Due amount and is set by this policy at USD $3.00. The per-competitor Dues amount for all other bands is a fraction of the Base Due amount as determined and periodically updated by the WFC. + 1. The per-competitor Dues amount for Band 0 is always zero as countries in Band 0 are not subject to Dues. + 2. A region not recognized separately by the WCA may be subject to a different country band from the country it falls within, based on geographic separation and/or economic differences, at the discretion of the WFC. +4. To determine the Dues amount based on the country band, look up the competition’s band and the associated per-competitor Dues amount in the [country bands list](https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/wfc/country-bands). +5. To determine the Dues amount based on registration fees, follow the flow below: + 1. For countries in Bands 3, 4, and 5, the Dues amount based on registration fees is equal to 15% of the base registration fee as stated on the WCA website, as converted to US Dollars based on the exchange rate on the final day of the competition. + 2. For countries in Bands 1 and 2, the Dues amount based on registration fees is equal to 5% of the base registration fee as stated on the WCA website, as converted to US Dollars based on the exchange rate on the final day of the competition. + 3. For Band 0, the Dues amount based on registration fees is always zero as countries in Band 0 are not subject to Dues. +6. For the purpose of calculating the Dues amount based on registration fees, the base registration fee as stated on the WCA website must be equal to the minimum payment required to register for at least one event by a competitor who is not a member of any group eligible for a lowered/waived registration fee. + 1. Exception: if all competitors have an equal opportunity to become a member of a group eligible for a lowered/waived registration fee at no additional cost, the base registration fee may be set to the amount required to register by a member of that group. ## Appendix B {.page-break-before} -### WFC Use of Band 0 for countries that do not owe Dues -1. Band 0 countries are countries which do not owe any Dues to the WCA for competitions held in their country. - 1. This only applies for competitions that were held in the country while the country maintained a Band 0 status. -2. Countries placed on a restricted region list per the Regional Restriction Policy, who experience economic and/or currency instability, or who have challenges making payments to the WCA due to their financial systems will be given Band 0. - 1. This will be handled on a case-by-base basis at the discretion of the WFC. - 2. Once the country’s currency returns to a more normal level, and once economic indicators and/or world news report that the country is out of its period of financial instability, then the WFC will place the country into the proper band based on its Cost of Living (COL) value at that time. -3. Countries who have newly joined the WCA will be placed into Band 0 for a limited period of time. - 1. New countries will keep their Band 0 status until the first of the following events occurs: - 1. After 5 competitions have been completed in the country, they will be placed into a band based on the country’s Cost of Living (COL) value. - 2. When 2 years have passed since the first competition in that country has completed, then the country will be placed into a band based on the country’s COL value. +### WFC use of Band 0 for countries that do not owe Dues +1. Band 0 countries are countries which do not owe any Dues to the WCA for competitions held there. + 1. This only applies for competitions that are held while the country maintains a Band 0 status. +2. Band 0 status applies when a country meets one or more of the following conditions: + 1. The country has newly joined the WCA (at most 5 competitions have been completed in the country). + 1. A region not recognized separately by the WCA may be treated as having newly joined the WCA and therefore be eligible for Band 0 status, based on geographic separation and/or economic differences from the country it falls within, at the discretion of the WFC. + 2. The country is subject to financial restrictions according to the Regional Restrictions Policy. + 1. If the country’s financial restrictions under the Regional Restrictions policy are lifted, then the WFC will return the country to the band in which it would otherwise be placed. + 3. The country faces substantial difficulties making payments to the WCA via the supported payment methods due to their financial system and/or laws. + 1. This will be handled on a case-by-base basis at the discretion of the WFC after they become aware of the issue. + 2. If the country’s financial system advances or laws change to allow for payment through one or more of the supported methods, then the WFC will return the country to the band in which it would otherwise be placed. + 4. The country is experiencing economic and/or currency instability. + 1. This will be handled on a case-by-base basis at the discretion of the WFC after they become aware of the issue. + 2. Once economic indicators and/or world news support the conclusion that the country’s economic and/or currency situation has stabilized, then the WFC will return the country to the band in which it would otherwise be placed. + 5. The country has experienced a severe setback in its cubing community, including but not limited to: no longer having a local Delegate, the cancellation/failure of a major competition for reasons outside the Delegates’ control, a major fraud event, etc. + 1. This will be handled on a case-by-base basis at the discretion of the WFC after they become aware of the issue. + 2. Once the country’s cubing community has been restored to a self-sustaining level, then the WFC will return the country to the band in which it would otherwise be placed.