On 9 August 2016, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) announced that it had revoked the ‘charity’ status of two organisations, back to 1 July 2013, and with that, they will lose all relevant Commonwealth tax concessions back to that date also.
The organisations are:
- Ethan Affordable Housing Limited (ABN 22135818245), which had its charity status revoked by the ACNC on 25 July 2016. The date of revocation was backdated to 1 July 2013. The organisation is based in Victoria and according to its record on the Australian Business Register (ABR), has been operational since 2009. Ethan Affordable Housing was endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to access Commonwealth charity tax concessions GST Concession, Income Tax Exemption, and FBT Rebate.
- Kids Cancer Relief NSW Inc (ABN 56500553681), which had its charity status revoked by the ACNC on 3 August 2016. The date of revocation was backdated to 1 July 2013. The organisation is based in New South Wales and according to its record on the ABR, has been operational since 2011. Kids Cancer Relief NSW Inc was endorsed by the ATO as a deductible gift recipient with access to Commonwealth charity tax concessions GST Concession, Income Tax Exemption, and FBT Rebate.
The organisations have 60 days from their respective date of revocation to object to the ACNC’s decision.
General
The announcement follows the revocation of seven organisations in June 2016.
Commissioner Susan Pascoe AM said that while the ACNC could not provide further details, members of the public can be assured that revocation is reserved for the most serious of cases.
She said that the ACNC’s approach to regulating Australia’s charity sector is to be firm, yet fair. It works with charities to help them get back on track. We do this by providing guidance and education, often through their Advice Services team. However, when we find serious circumstances of mismanagement or deliberate breaches of the ACNC Act we will revoke charity status. We make no apology about taking a tough stance when necessary.
Commissioner Pascoe encouraged donors to always check the Charity Register to ensure they are giving to a registered charity. Organisations that have their charity status revoked by the ACNC are easy to identify. A registered charity will appear with a green tick on their Charity Register listing, however when a charity is revoked, a red cross will appear. Members of the public can access the Charity Register, free of charge, on their desktop computers or on mobile devices at acnc.gov.au/findacharity.
[ACNC media release] [LTN 153, 10/8/16]