Treasury recently released draft guidelines setting out the proposed rules which community charities must follow to receive and maintain deductible gift recipient (‘DGR’) endorsement.
The draft guidelines state that a community charity must be established, maintained and wound up in accordance with each of the following principles:
- it is a community charity;
- it is philanthropic in character;
- it is a vehicle for philanthropy; and
- it seeks to comply with all relevant laws and obligations, and it is open, transparent and accountable to the public (through the ATO and, as a registered charity, to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (‘ACNC’)).
Community charities are also required to follow various other requirements in the draft guidelines. Among other things, a community charity’s governing rules must include objects that clearly set out the purposes of the charity, and require that, on the charity winding up or ceasing to be a community charity, all of its net assets must be provided to a DGR in accordance with the purposes of the charity.
The guidelines are to take effect the day after they have been finalized and registered.
Ref: Taxation Administration (Community Charity) Guidelines 2024
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Can staff celebrations attract FBT?
With the holiday season coming up, employers may be planning to celebrate with their employees (including not-for-profit organizations with paid employees).
Before they hire a restaurant or book an event, employers should make sure to work out if the benefits they provide their employees are considered entertainment-related, and therefore subject to fringe benefits tax (‘FBT’). This will depend on:
- the amount they spend on each employee;
- when and where the celebration is held;
- who attends — is it just employees, or are partners, clients or suppliers also invited?; and
- the value and type of gifts they provide.
Employers who do provide entertainment-related fringe benefits should keep records detailing all of this information so they can calculate their taxable value for FBT purposes.
The ATO is recommending that employers “get on top of how FBT works before you provide perks and extras. Otherwise, you may end up with an unexpected FBT liability.”
Taxpayers can refer to ‘FBT and entertainment for not-for-profit organisations’ on the ATO’s website for further information in this regard.
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Beware of scams regarding the new ‘myID’
The Australian Government’s Digital ID app ‘myGovID’ is now called ‘myID’. The updated app is now being rolled out in app stores.
ATO Assistant Commissioner Rob Thomson said while the myID name is new and may look different, users will use it the same way to securely access more than 150 participating government online services.
The ATO reminds the community to watch out for scammers seeking to take advantage of the name change. The ATO is seeing various impersonation scams designed to steal personal information, including myGov sign in credentials.
To protect themselves, taxpayers should note the following:
They should not click on suspicious links, open attachments or download any files from suspicious emails or SMSs. The ATO will never send an unsolicited SMS that contains a hyperlink.
As the ATO transitions from myGovID to myID, taxpayers do not need to set up a new myID or reconfirm their details. If they have been prompted to go to a website to do so, this is a scam.
Taxpayers should only download the myID app from the official app stores (Google Play and the App Store) and ensure they turn on notifications, so they are notified when accessing online services.
Taxpayers should never share, or enter their login code, for anyone.
Taxpayers who suspect any suspicious activity on their myID should report it immediately to the myID support line on 1300 287 539 or visit the myID website.
Ref: ATO media release, ‘myGovID is now called myID’, 13 November 2024
