Charities Associations

Taxation guides and amendments to assist NFPs

Emily Hollosy July 1, 2010

2 min read

Guide to capital gains tax 2009-10

A new Guide to capital gains tax 2009-10 has been released to help relevant organisations calculate their net capital gain or net capital loss for 2009–10.

A company, trust or superannuation fund that is required to complete and lodge a capital gains tax schedule 2010 should use the schedule included at the back of this guide.

More information is available from the ATO.

Two new guides for taxable not-for-profits

The Mutuality and taxable income guide explains the principle of mutuality and helps these non-profit organisations to calculate their taxable income and determine if they need to lodge an annual income tax return.

The Guide to company tax return for non-profit organisations 2010 helps organisations complete the Company tax return 2010 (NAT 0656), by discussing some common errors made when completing the return and the consequences of these errors.

It is to be read in conjunction with the Mutuality and taxable income guide and the Company tax return instructions 2010.

The guide is updated each year to accompany each income year’s company tax return.

These two guides are available from the ATO.

New bill to improve tax laws

The Tax Laws Amendment (2010 Measures No. 4) Bill 2010 contains a number of amendments to create more efficient tax laws.

The new legislation has been introduced into Parliament to implement a number of measures that are designed to improve the operation of the tax laws, reduce compliance costs for taxpayers and provide tax benefits for organisations which carry out important community services.

Of particular relevance to not-for-profit organisations is the deductible gift recipient status for community organisations.

The bill states it will “extend tax deductible donation support to all Australian volunteer fire and emergency services entities and their state coordinating bodies, as well extend deductible gift recipient status to One Laptop per Child Australia Ltd, extend the period of listing for the Xanana Vocational Education Trust and update the name of the Clontarf Foundation Inc.”

Visit the Federal Government’s Assistant Treasurer’s website for more information.