ACNC urges PBIs to check their details 2

The ACNC is urging charities with deductible-gift-recipient endorsement to check their registration details.

The commission has begun reviewing DGR reforms announced by the federal government in 2017.

The review is designed to strengthen governance arrangements and bolster confidence in the NFP sector by ensuring that tax concessions are held only by eligible charities, that the integrity of the ACNC register is protected, and donors are confident that donations are used for a charitable purpose.

The commission will review about 500 charities a year to assess whether they are still eligible to be registered as a charity, charity subtype, and for DGR status.  An initial focus will be on public benevolent institutions.

PBIs are the biggest demographic in the DGR population (about 11,000), they can access the highest rate of tax concessions, and, because they service such a diverse section of the community, have a substantial impact on trust and confidence in the sector.

They will be reviewed according to a risk profile, which will include that they were registered as a charity and PBI before 3 December 2012, that they are not regulated by the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, and have no, or only one responsible person listed or no governing document.

‘[There] should be no impact on charities under review unless an issue is identified,’ ACNC commissioner Gary Johns said.

In line with its commitment to transparency and education and to ensure procedural fairness, the ACNC is encouraging charities to self-assess using an online tool available at https://www.acnc.gov.au/for-charities/charity-tax-concessions/deductible-gift-recipients-dgrs-and-acnc/deductible-gift.

‘By using our self-assessment tool, charities will be able to identify and rectify most issues, such as nominating responsible persons and uploading their governing document to the register,’ Dr Johns said.

‘Charities don’t need to notify us of those changes or send us their self-assessment.  They can make changes easily through the ACNC charity portal.’

‘To promote good practice, we encourage charities to assess themselves periodically.’