Reminder: ACNC reporting deadline looms

Most charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) have just over three weeks to lodge their statement, with the 30 June deadline fast approaching.

ACNC Commissioner Susan Pascoe said 30,135 charities had already lodged their statement, with most doing it online. More than 20 per cent have also voluntarily filed their financial accounts at the same time, and more than 22,000 charities have submitted their governance documents, all of which are also published on the ACNC register.

“Publication of information in the Annual Information Statement (AIS) serves a number of purposes: first and foremost it is helping the ACNC build Australia’s first free publicly available and credible charity register,” explained Ms Pascoe.

“Secondly, it is helping to increase the public’s trust and confidence in the charitable sector by providing key information about charities’ work. Information provided on the AIS is also able to be shared with other agencies to reduce red tape and duplication of reporting for charities.”

This is the first year charities have been required to lodge an AIS, and all registered charities with a financial year ending on 31 December 2013 are now required to lodge their 2013 statement. Charities with a financial year ending between 30 June 2013 and 31 December 2013 who have not yet lodged are now almost three months overdue.

“It is a legal requirement that registered charities lodge their AIS. Consistent with our regulatory approach, charities that have missed their reporting deadlines will receive final reminders prior to any penalties being applied. Charities do need to know that if they fail to lodge their return they could be liable to a penalty and may lose their tax concessions.”

The AIS asks key information including the charity’s size, who they support and where they operate. The information is then made available on the ACNC Register acnc.gov.au/findacharity, and is used in the ACNC’s Charity Passport to pass information to other Government agencies as part of the ACNC’s ‘report once use often’ model.

“When the ACNC first commenced in December 2012, there was no credible data around registered charities for the public to access. The ACNC Register was initially populated with 56,000 charities that had been given tax exemption status by the Australian Tax Office, but this information was not up-to-date or accurate,” Ms Pascoe said.

“Since then, it has been the ACNC’s priority to build a credible free national database of Australian charities. The ACNC has published a list of over 4,000 charities where it has had mail returned unopened. This is available on the ACNC Register; if these charities cannot be located they will be removed from the Charity Register over the next few months.

“In addition to this the ACNC is working with the ATO and other regulators to identify charities that have not filed an AIS and may no longer be active. This is a big task and there could be anything from 5,000-10,000 charities in this category. Identifying them will also strengthen the register’s integrity.

“The AIS has been integral to this process. You cannot have a national register without some form of annual reporting to keep it up to date. The ACNC has worked with the sector to develop the annual report and ensure it is light-touch and quick and easy to complete.”

While the Government has announced it intends to disband the ACNC, the current legislation still requires all charities to report by the 30 June deadline. A Senate inquiry is currently underway to debate the future of the ACNC, with a decision to the inquiry’s report to be handed down on 16 June.