Monthly update 11 - June 2006
In brief: This issue announces the new registration dates, announces fact sheets on the way, answers your questions, and gives details of forthcoming Charities Commission presentations.
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New registration dates
We hope those of you with Internet access received our news alert by email last week, which announced that the Charities Register would open to receive applications on 1 February 2007. Feel free to skip to our next story if you did!
For the benefit of other readers, we are pleased to confirm that the registration of charities under the Charities Act will indeed begin next year. While registration is voluntary, existing charitable organisations will need to register between 1 February 2007 and 1 July 2008 to maintain income tax and gift duty exemptions.
This decision follows our announcement in Update last month that registration would not begin in July 2006 as originally anticipated.
Please note that the date upon which the tax laws will change has also changed - formerly 1 October 2007, but now 1 July 2008.
This allows charitable organisations 17 months to register before any existing tax exemptions are affected.
Time up your sleeve
Although you cannot register until 1 February 2007, which might seem a long way off, there are certain things you can do now to prepare for registration as a charitable entity.
At risk of sounding like a broken record, we encourage you to use this extra time to consider registration closely, to decide whether or not you will apply for registration, and if so:
- Source your rules or governing document and take a fresh look at them – do they need updating? Is your charitable purpose clearly stated? If you think you will apply for registration online, you can upload an electronic copy of your rules. You may already have an electronic copy, but if not, you could consider converting your paper copy to an electronic version in advance.
- Sort out who your officers are (e.g. trustees of a trust, members of the board, or where there is no governing body, all of the people who are in a position to exercise significant influence over the management or administration of your organisation).
- Consult our registration checklist if you haven’t already done so.
Fact sheets on the way
Our guidance material is really starting to take shape with the development of a number of topical fact sheets that are pertinent to the registration process. At this point, they’re only in draft – but once finalised, we hope they’ll provide some useful, tailored information on topics like:
- charitable purpose and public benefit
- rules and how to create them
- annual returns
- Māori and the Charities Act
- funders and the Charities Act; and more.
We continue to work closely with Inland Revenue on any tax-related matters as we develop our educational material, so you can be sure that we’re “singing from the same song sheet”.
Your questions
Q: Will the Charities Commission be registering companies that have charitable purposes?
A: Yes, we suspect there may be some cases where companies are successfully registered under the Charities Act. It is charitable purpose, not how an organisation is structured, that is important to the Commission. A charitable organisation will not be disqualified from registering if it also has a secondary or supplementary non-charitable function as part of its charitable purpose.
Q: Are there any guidelines on who may conduct an audit of a charity?
A: No. We do not set any requirements for audit. For the Annual Return, we ask you to supply a copy of your audited accounts if you have them, otherwise unaudited accounts are okay.
You may wish to read the general information on charities and financial reporting on our website.
Group registration
If your organisation is considering applying for registration as a group, you might be interested to know that we’re developing an information package to provide direction and support on the group registration process. Part of this package is a submission template, which will be available to charities well in advance of February 2007.
You can register your interest in receiving this pack by calling us on freephone 0508 242 748 or by emailing your contact details to info@charities.govt.nz.
Upcoming events
The Charities Commission will have a presence at the following community events next month:
- Palmerston North, 21 July – Palmerston North Community Services, seminar on registration under the Charities Act. For more information, please contact Geraldine Holmes, email pncsc@inspire.net.nz or phone 06 354 3809.
- Auckland, 31 July – ASB Trusts’ Community Day, TelstraClear Pacific events centre, 770-834 Great South Road, Manukau City. For details, visit www.asbtrusts.org.nz or call toll free on 0800 ASB TRUSTS (0800 272 878).
Check the events page on our website for any new events in your region, which are posted up as soon as they are confirmed.
17 months to register
Remember, there are now 17 months to register under the Charities Act before any existing tax exemptions that your organisation has on the grounds of charitable purpose are affected. The Charities Commission will begin to accept applications for registration from
1 February 2007. |
For more information
Visit our website at www.charities.govt.nz for the latest information on the Commission’s activities, and on the registration process.
Free phone: 0508 CHARITIES (0508 242 748)
Update is the monthly newsletter of the Charities Commission. If you wish to subscribe, simply email info@charities.govt.nz with your name, organisation and postal address or call us on free phone 0508 CHARITIES (0508 242 748).