Saturday March 2014

Tax TimeDoes your organisation turnover more than $20 million annually? If so, there are changes to the New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) that you need to be aware of.

The GST Act requires all entities with over $20 million GST turnover to report monthly and lodge activity statements electronically.

The ATO will continue to send paper activity statements irrespective of an entity’s turnover. However this does not remove the obligation to switch to electronic reporting for entities with over $20 million GST turnover.Continue Reading ATO changes lodgement requirements for organisations with over $20 million GST turnover

Government Introduces Legislation to Repeal the ACNC

This morning the Coalition Government introduced a suite of legislation to repeal thousands of Acts, Bills and Regulations in an effort to “cut red tape”.

In line with the Government’s pre-election promise, the planned abolition of the ACNC has been tabled as part of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Repeal) (No. 1) Bill 2014 (the Bill). The Explanatory memorandum to the Bill states “the abolition of the ACNC is part of the broader Government red tape reduction and deregulation agendas.”

The proposed abolition of the ACNC is intended to occur through a two stage process; the initial Bill to repeal the ACNC has been introduced to Parliament but (if it is passed) will not take effect until a subsequent Bill regarding replacement arrangements is introduced in the winter sitting period.Continue Reading Government to Repeal the ACNC

AbolishmentThe Coalition Government has stated that it will seek to abolish the ACNC along with more than 8000 federal laws on 19 March as part of its plan to reduce red tape. This confirms the Government’s pre-election commitment to abolish the ACNC.

Although Minister Andrews has said that the ACNC would be replaced by a National Centre for Excellence “as a fount of both innovation and advocacy” there is still much uncertainty regarding the scope and operation of this Centre. Minister Kevin Andrews has suggested that an evaluation model based on the US Charity Navigator could replace the educative and registry functions of the ACNC. This model is best known for its comparative lists of charities such as 10 super-sized charities, 10 consistently low rated charities, 10 charities overpaying their fundraisers and so on. Much debate regarding the merits of a system which ranks charities has followed and without further clarity regarding the Centre’s objectives, purpose and scope to collect data such a proposal is difficult to assess.Continue Reading Abolition of the ACNC Takes Shape

ACNCACNC Deadline Approaching

Have you submitted your 2013 Annual Information Statement?

Regardless of size or purpose all charities registered with the ACNC must submit an Annual Information Statement to the Commissioner each year. The first AIS will need to be completed for the 2012-2013 financial year. If your charity has a financial year calendar (ending 30 June), its first Annual Information Statement (AIS) is due on 31 March 2014.


Continue Reading ACNC Annual Information Statement Deadline Approaching