The ATO has released the Draft Special Conditions Ruling TR 2014/D5 – Income Tax: special conditions for various entities whose ordinary and statutory income is exempt

In August the ATO released draft ruling TR 2014/D5 regarding the proposed application of special conditions inserted by the Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No. 2) Act 2013.
The special conditions require that:
  • An entity must comply with all the substantive requirements in its governing rules (Governing Rules Condition); and
  • An entity must apply its income and assets solely for the purpose for which the entity is established (Income and Assets Condition).

What organisations or entities does the ruling apply to?

The ruling applies to a number of income tax exempt entities (but not all) which are listed at Section 50 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA).Continue Reading ATO releases Draft Special Conditions TR2014/D5


The Future of the ACNC Remains Uncertain

On 16 June 2014 the Senate Committee delivered a divided report on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (Repeal) (No 1) Bill 2014 (No 1 Bill).

No 1 Bill

Unsurprisingly, the Liberal Senators supported the abolition of the ACNC, however, the Labor and Greens Senators offered dissenting reports appealing for the ACNC to continue. The dissenting reports noted that the ACNC is preferable to returning to the previous regime of regulation by the ATO and ASIC.

The No 1 Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 19 March and now will return to the House of Representatives where it is likely to be passed by the lower house. Part 1 of the Bill contains the necessary provisions to repeal the ACNC and Part 2 provides for transitional arrangements, importantly, allowing for the Minister to specify a successor agency.

If passed, the Bill won’t come into operation until the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (Repeal) Bill (No 2) (which has not yet been introduced) is successfully passed.Continue Reading The Future of the ACNC Remains Uncertain

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The ACNC has recently released a register of charities that have not responded to communication from the regulator (i.e. no known address/contact details or correspondence has been returned to sender). Charities on this database risk losing their entitlements to charity tax concessions and have until 30 June 2014 to update their details and contact the ACNC. If these charities do not contact the ACNC, the ACNC will commence the process of revoking their registration as charities. If a charity’s registration with the ACNC is revoked it will not be entitled to charity tax concessions from the ATO.Continue Reading Missing charities could lose tax concessions

York CathedralLast week, a NSW Supreme Court decision was handed down regarding the fate of a parcel of land on which a church building stands.  The findings of Lindsay J in this case serve as a timely reminder of the obligations and duties of trustees who hold property in their names, in this context, on behalf of a church body.

Facts of the Case

While some of facts of the case were contentious, the findings from Lindsay J paint a straightforward picture of the events that had occurred:

  • In 1978, five men, being members of a small congregation of Christians who worshipped under the name “The Apostolic Christian Church Nazarene-Sydney” (Church), purchased a property in Arncliffe, NSW (Land) for the purposes of enabling the congregation to worship and pray there.
  • While the Land was purchased in their five individual names, there was no doubt that the Land was purchased and used only for the advancement of religion.  The Judge was satisfied that the five individuals intended to hold the Land as trustees for the Church.
    Continue Reading Trustee Duties v Self-Interest – A Battle over Church Property

UBIT is deadJust weeks before the intended commencement of the “Better Targeting of NFP Tax Concessions” measure, the Acting Assistant Treasurer has issued a press release stating “the Government has considered alternatives to the previous government’s better targeting of not-for-profit tax concessions measure. We have concluded that they are not required at this time”. This news will be welcomed by many charities and not for profit organisations.

The Better Targeting of NFP Tax Concessions, commonly known as the unrelated business income tax (or UBIT), was introduced as part of the 2011-2012 budget and had been delayed for a number of years.Continue Reading The Unrelated Business Income Tax is (finally!) dead

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

Businesses including Not-for-Profit entities should review their privacy policies and procedures to ensure that they comply with the new Australian privacy principles before they commence on 14 March 2014.

The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 is the most significant privacy reform since the Privacy Act was introduced over 25 years ago. The new privacy principles will regulate the handling of personal information by businesses and Australian government agencies.Continue Reading Privacy Act Amendments to Regulate Businesses and Government Agencies