Clubs charter

Purpose

Terms of reference

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) administers the federal tax system that operates for the benefit of the community. Both the ATO and taxpayers play important roles in the operation of the tax system.

The ATO recognises the value of listening to the community and places considerable emphasis on the need to work closely with its clients. Part of our organisational focus includes embedding the fundamentals of collaboration, consultation and co-design into all our interactions with the community. This involves fostering partnerships with representatives of the community, to develop and implement policy in a manner that meets the expectations of both the community and the government.

The Clubs Consultative Forum comprises peak body representatives from the licensed club sector, industry members, tax practitioners and legal advisors. The forum allows the industry to share issues peculiar to their industry, and encourages dialogue on tax issues of concern to the club sector with senior executives of the ATO.

Type of forum and length of term

This forum is an external forum encouraging dialogue with the licensed club sector about tax issues affecting them. It aims to provide certainty and clarity to the sector by working through tax issues of concern to the industry.

The forum was established in 2004 and is an ongoing external forum.

Governance and relationships

The forum is sponsored and chaired by the Assistant Commissioner Small and Medium Enterprises (S&ME) Not for Profit and Government (NFP&G) and Complex Technical.

Justification for establishment

The Clubs Consultative Forum was originally established in September 2004 as a consultative forum through which the ATO could:

• raise the industry's awareness of the ATO's compliance focus in relation to clubs as they represent a part of the not-for-profit sector which frequently engages in commercial activity and as a result has particular issues to be discussed in relation to tax
• share with the sector specific issues such as the potential application of the mutuality principle by clubs and other associations
• better understand and meet the industry's education and communication needs
• provide the industry with an avenue to provide feedback to the ATO on its compliance strategies as outlined in the compliance program.

This forum provides an opportunity for the ATO to be open and accountable about the way we work and the thinking behind our decisions and directions.