Two notable developments in the NSW retirement villages sector have recently taken place – the first being the passage of new retirement village amendment legislation in November 2018 and the second being the appointment of a retirement village ambassador in December 2018.

Retirement Village Reforms

The Retirement Villages Amendment Act 2018 was assented to on

The Retirement Villages Regulation 2009 NSW will be automatically repealed on 1 September 2017.

There has been a consultation process underway which has now been finalised and a new Regulation will come into force on and from 1 September 2017. Operators and residents should familiarise themselves with these changes.

The major changes that are proposed

The ACNC Commissioner has just released the ACNC’s Interpretation Statement on Public Benevolent Institutions. The Interpretation Statement provides guidance on the ACNC’s interpretation of the law pertaining to Public Benevolent Institutions (PBI) and insight into how the ACNC and its staff will assess a charitable organisation’s entitlement for endorsement as a PBI. The Interpretation

Federal Parliament has recently passed legislation that allows tax deductibility for donations to a new education charity called Australian Schools Plus.

For the first time, this will allow donors to receive a DGR receipt for donations for general educational purposes to particular schools.

What are the Opportunities for Deductible Gift Donations for Schooling?

Up until

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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

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

CharityIn our blog on 3 June 2013 we wrote that the Federal Government had introduced the Charities Bill 2013 and Charities (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013 into Parliament.

On 27 June 2013 only 1 day before Parliament rose and despite resistance from the opposition, the Bills passed unamended and are scheduled to commence

Charity

In our blog on 9 April 2013 we wrote that the Federal Government had released an exposure draft of the Charities Bill 2013 and Charities (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013 for consultation.

On Wednesday 29 May 2013, almost three weeks after consultation on the Bill closed the Government introduced an amended version of the Bill into the House of Representatives.

Continue Reading Statutory Definition of Charity Introduced to Parliament

CharitySummary – On 8 April the Federal Government released an exposure draft of the Charities Bill 2013 and Charities (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013 for consultation.

The Government has released for comment a draft exposure of the Charities Bill 2013 which will introduce the long awaited statutory definition of “charity”.

In Australia, there is presently no statutory definition of “charity” and its interpretation has evolved through common law interpretation of the English Statute of Elizabeth in 1601.   The Government considers that the draft legislation preserves the common law definition of charity including long established principles such as the presumption of public benefit for certain charitable purposes.  It further incorporates recent court decisions, including Aid/Watch Incorporated –v- Federal Commissioner of Taxation.

Continue Reading What is a Charity? Statutory Definition of Charity Released