Minter Ellison's popular report on the fundamentals of doing business in Australia.
Minter Ellison's tax practice includes a dedicated team who specialise in advising not for profit organisations, are sensitive to the socio-economic environments in which they operate, and who are passionate about working with not for profit organisations to achieve their objectives. We have significant experience in applying to the Australian Taxation Office, State Revenue Offices, Treasury and other government departments and agencies such as AUSAid to obtain and maintain tax concessions for not for profit organisations (e.g. obtaining deductible gift recipient and income tax exemption status). We can assist not for profit organisations with advice on all types of entities, including charitable and other philanthropic trusts and foundations such as public and private ancillary funds, incorporated not for profit associations and companies limited by guarantee. We also assist in establishing, implementing and documenting an appropriate legal structure (e.g. company limited by guarantee, incorporated association, trust); drafting constitutions, rules of association and trust deeds; compliance with state fundraising obligations and obtaining fundraising licences; drafting and reviewing sponsorship and funding agreements; corporate governance including regulatory compliance with ASIC, Consumer Affairs Victoria and other regulatory bodies; and intellectual property including registration of trademarks and copyright.Our not for profit practice also advises clients on other tax issues including FBT concessions and salary sacrifice arrangements, GST concessions, payroll tax concessions, and employer tax obligations.
The Government has released for public comment exposure draft legislation, the Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures 3 No. 4) Bill 2012: tax exempt body "in Australia" requirements. Its purpose is to restate and standardise the special conditions for deductible gift recipient (DGR) entities in Division 30 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) andincome tax exempt (ITE) entities in Div 50 of the ITAA 1997. The proposed legislation also introduces a standardised definition of the term 'not-for-profit' that will apply for the purposes of all federal tax legislation and also for legislation being drafted regarding registration of entities as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.
On 29 March 2012 the High Court unanimously upheld the decision of the Commissioner of Taxation to disallow an application for endorsement of the 'Kalos Metron Charitable Trust' as a charitable trust fund. The decision provides High Court authority regarding the general duties of trustees for the proper administration of charitable trusts both under general law and for the purpose of meeting the special condition in section 50-60 of the ITAA 1997 for income tax exemption.
The government has announced that it will extend the start date for implementation of the tax reform measure Better Targeting for Not-For-Profit Tax Concessions to 1 July 2012. The legislation was originally intended to apply from 1 July 2011. The reason given for the extension is to satisfy concerns from the not-for-profit (NFP) sector about the need for further consultation.
The Australian Government has announced that it will defer the start date for the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to 1 October 2012. Originally, it was intended to be 1 July 2012.
The Australian Government has released a consultation paper seeking public views on the proposal to introduce uniform national fundraising regulation. Under the proposed regime the regulated activity and regulated entity would be broadly defined, and specific exemptions would apply to limit fundraising regulation to those activities and entities that should be regulated for policy reasons. In this Alert, we discuss the key features of the national regulatory framework and other important issues tabled in the consultation paper.
REFORM AGENDA: All not-for-profit and charitable organisations will be affected by the reform program announced by the Australian Government.
Minter Ellison has made a submission to Treasury on the Treasury Consultation Paper 'A Definition of Charity'. The submission includes some general comments on the proposed reforms and addresses a number of specific questions raised by Treasury in its consultation paper.
The Government has released for public comment exposure draft legislation, the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Bill 2012, to establish the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC) as a statutory authority to commence operations on 1 July 2012. The exposure draft legislation, explanatory memorandum and accompanying fact sheets can be found under the Not-for-profit Reform section. Comments on the exposure draft (ED) legislation are due on 20 January 2012.
The Government has released a Consultation Paper seeking public views on the introduction of a standardised principle based governance framework for all not-for-profit (NFP) entities. The rules will overhaul existing governance rules for all NFP entities and will require a review of their existing constituent documents for compliance with the new rules. The rules will be administered by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) when it commences operations on 1 July 2012.
The government has released a Consultation Paper on a proposed introduction of a statutory definition of 'charity'. The proposal will affect many not-for-profits and foundations that seek concessions (such as federal tax concessions), and forms a part of the wider regulatory reform of the not-for-profit sector signalled in the May Budget for the 2012 income year.