The Australian Taxation Office announced recently changes to administration of not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) that self-assess as income tax exempt. This requires additional reporting and more paperwork for Network member U3As not yet registered with the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission).
As a result, the applications to register with the ACNC grew exponentially after the ATO’s announcement, resulting in extended timeframes to process registrations. Adding to concerns of member U3As was the complexity of preparing submissions for ACNC registration.
To ease the burden for Network member U3As in applying to register and to reduce their annual reporting requirements, Network took up an offer from the ACNC to bulk register local U3As. ACNC provided a spreadsheet of questions that spanned seven long worksheets, from which Trudy Graham developed a form for member U3As to complete so Network could process the bulk application.
Network Queensland President Rhonda Weston AM congratulated Trudy on her work in preparing the submission to ACNC.
“Over half of our U3As were already registered, and a further 12 have taken up the offer,” Rhonda said.
“This is important and valuable work by Trudy as the ACNC registration process can be challenging. One U3A sought a quote for an outside organisation to do their registration and were quoted $4000 to do the work. This is another example of the benefits of belonging to Network.”