Australian Charities and Not For Profit Commission

Australian Charities and Not For Profit Commission

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the national regulator of charities, whose role is to help:

• charities understand and meet their obligations through information, advice and guidance; and
• public understand the work of the not-for-profit sector and provide a free searchable database of charities.

The ACNC web site is www.acnc.gov.au

The ACNC requires that all registered charities provide reports each year. The reporting requirements depend on the size and activities of each charity. Parishes in the Diocese have been registered as Basic Religious Charities.

A 'Basic Religious Charity' is an ACNC category for a type of religious charity. Not all charities that are registered with the charitable subtype of ‘advancing religion’ are Basic Religious Charities. There are criteria that a charity must meet to be a Basic Religious Charity that Parishes need to be aware of:

• the charity cannot be registered with any other subtype of charity (for example, could not also be registered with the subtype of advancing education)
• it is not a body corporate registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (including an Australian Registered Body), an Indigenous corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006, a corporation registered under the Companies Act 1985 of Norfolk Island, or an incorporated association in any state or territory
• the ACNC has not allowed it to report as part of a group, and
• it has not received more than $100 000 in government grants in the current financial year or either of the previous two financial years.

Basic Religious Charities must notify the ACNC of certain changes and submit an Annual Information Statement each year, but they are not required to:

• answer the financial questions in the Annual Information Statement
• submit annual financial reports, or
• comply with any Governance Standards.

The Diocesan Office gathers the necessary information required to lodge the Annual Information Statement in the Annual Financial Return provided by each Parish. This information is aggregated and lodged in bulk with the ACNC for each reporting period by the Diocesan Office on behalf of the Diocese. Returns for the year ended 30 April are required to be lodged by 31 October of the following calendar year.

Deductible Gift Recipients

Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs) are entitled to receive donations that are deductible from the donor's income tax. This means when a donor makes a gift or contribution to a DGR endorsed charity, they may be able to claim a tax deduction. The ACNC is responsible for registering organisations as charities, and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for endorsing organisations as DGRs. Parishes are registered with the ACNC as Basic Religious Charities and are ineligible to registered as a DGR. Donations directly to either a Parish or the Diocese do not qualify for income tax deductibility in the hands of the donor.

The Trustees may consider an application from a Parish to establish a DGR fund. The obligations in respect of these funds are onerous and approval for these would only be provided in circumstances where the fund can demonstrate it can meet the requirements for being a fund and will be financially viable, taking account of the costs that will be incurred to administer the fund.