Happy New Year! - DGR Register Reforms come into effect

While your organisation is bringing in the New Year so too are the reforms to DGR endorsement for 4 DGR categories. From 1 January 2024 the ATO will obtain the administered responsibility for those DGR categories. Here is what you need to know.

Further to our article DGR Reform: cutting red tape for environmental, cultural, harm prevention, and overseas aid charities NFP Lawyers, from the 1 January 2024, the requirements for various government departments to maintain 4 different DGR Registers are repealed transferring administrative responsibility to the ATO. The ATO will be responsible for assessing eligibility for DGR endorsement for:

• cultural organisations,
• environmental organisation,
• harm prevention charities, and
• developing country relief funds or organisations  (formerly Overseas aid fund).

Organisations already DGR endorsed in one of the DGR categories

• continue to be endorsed, if they continue to meet the eligibility criteria
• DGR endorsement will change from endorsement for the operation of a public fund to endorsement of your whole organisation
• Your public fund will be treated as your gift fund unless, or until, you establish a replacement gift fund.
• You will receive an updated DGR endorsement notice in early 2024 reflecting this change
• You will no longer be required to lodge statistical information with the relevant department or notify the relevant department of any changes to your organisation.
• If your organisation is an Environmental Organisation that is either a body corporate or a co-operative society, you will no longer be required to principally have members that were bodies corporate or have at least 50 individuals who were financial member who could vote at a general meeting.
• If you continue to operate a public fund, you will still need to follow your public fund rules excluding any rules which are inconsistent with the new law. For example, receipts for gifts and deductible contributions to your organisation must be issued in the name of your organisation and not in the public fund name, regardless of what is required of your public fund rules.
• For Harm Prevention Charities and Environmental Organisations, the transitional provisions provide that if your public fund is wound up, any surplus assets of the public fund are to be transferred to another gift deductible fund, authority or institution. This will remain until you amend your winding up provisions.

Organisations that have an in-progress application with one of the 4 government departments

• Your application will be transferred to the ATO

Organisation yet to start an application for DGRendorsement

• All DGRs are required to be a registered charity, except for ancillary funds and DGRs listed by name
• If you apply for registration as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission (ACNC) then you can apply to the ATO for DGR endorsement on the ACNC registration application form.
• If you are already a registered charity with the ACNC then you can apply directly to the ATO.

From the NFP Lawyers Team, have a merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

If you need any assistance or have any questions in relation to the impact on your organisation we will be back in the office 15 January 2024and happy to assist.

The material distributed is general information only. If yourequire specific advice on how these amendments directly affect yourorganisation, please do not hesitate to contact us.