To be honest, in EU most things are taxable. Most EU countries will tax you on your lottery winnings, which to me is just weird and unacceptable,but this is how things work here.

Of course it's taxable - if you give someone $20 for their project and get a t-shirt in return, then that is taxable just as any other deal, and even if there is no profit/taxable net income, then VAT applies for the transaction.

If crowdfunding was like purchase of shares (which it isn't), then it wouldn't be taxable initially, but would have a capital gains tax when you sell those shares.

Most of the crowdfunding projects are in essence similar to preorders, and thus would be taxable as any other sales - if there are true donation projects, then they'd need to file for nonprofit status to be able to get tax-exempt donations.