2013 saw the legislative and regulatory environment for charities significantly changed. 2014 looks like being a repeat, but in the opposite direction. The government has confirmed its intention to abolish the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) and to return to the common law definition of charity of the purposes of Commonwealth laws.

Treasury has announced that implementation of the unrelated commercial activities tax will be further delayed to 1 July 2014.  The tax remains retrospective for those unrelated commercial activities that commenced after 7:30 PM on 10 May 2011, subject to passing the enabling legislation.  This leaves charities with uncertainty regarding the tax status of their commercial activities.

When the next financial year begins, entities registered with the new Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission (ACNC) will be subject to six proposed governance standards and new reporting obligations in three categories depending on their annual revenue. If your organisation is going to be affected by the new regime, you can let Treasury know your thoughts by way of a written submission, applications for which close on the 15th of February.