Where do UNI taxes go?

The UNI leadership sets a corporate tax on bounties and mission rewards, generally ranging from 0.1% to 7.5%, depending on the current requirements of the UNI. The UNI corporate tax rate is very favorable, compared to the standard NPC corporation tax rate of 11%.

Taxes collected by the University are used to fund several different purposes:

• Skillbooks: Students are given reimbursements for skillbooks up to 1 million ISK in value. While individually this does not appear to be a significant cost, when aggregated across the entire University, it can be very substantial.

• Hangar Program: All T1 mods for frigates and cruisers are offered to our students. We also provide free frigates. Maintaining this program is not free, and requires mineral purchases, which lead to the production of needed items. Donations of items do mitigate some of the costs, but the hangar usage adds to large amounts when viewed across the entire University. Events, such as wars, place additional stress on hangar stocks and require an ISK investment to restore hangar stocks to their pre-war levels.

• Rent: Although players no longer have to travel to a UNI office to apply for membership, we do have to maintain offices in various regions, to promote the UNI and provide forward bases. The UNI must pay rent on all of these offices.

• Advertisements: We advertise in all major empire regions. This is a monthly bill.

• Wartime Replacements: During war, frigs and cruisers that are lost are reimbursed. This is not cheap in protracted wars, and is not something done on the fly. Levels of necessary ships must be stocked so that when war arises, the ships are ready and available.

• Ivy League Navy: The ILN takes steps to insure UNI military readiness at all times. The exact nature of these preparations are classified, but past large operations, such as Player-Owned Station (POS) takedowns, should give some insight into what the ISK is spent on.

• Subsidizing student research. If you look at our research rates, you will find they are very good compared to several other alternatives. That is because UNI funds go to support our POS, and UNI activities (such as selling BPCs) help cover some of the fuel costs.

As a result of these services, sometimes the UNI still operates at a loss on occasion. Fortunately, generous donations from former UNIs and support from some EVE alliances, who see the value of the UNI in training new pilots, help keep the flow of ISK manageable.

However, long-term wars, game-play changes, or any number of events could cause the UNI directors to reevaluate the tax rate, either higher or lower, depending on requirements.

(Thanks to Azmodeus Valar for most of this content.)