On 26 September 2009, tropical storm 'Ondoy' caused widespread damage to Baler in the Quezon province of the Philippines and in nearby Manila.
On 30 September 2009, an earthquake near Samoa caused a tsunami to strike Samoa, American Samoa and parts of Tonga. On the same day, the western Indonesian island of Sumatra suffered significant earthquake damage.
Various appeals have been launched to help victims of the disasters by collecting cash donations to support relief operations.
If your organisation wants to set up a tax deductible fund to collect donations for use outside Australia, it may be easier and quicker for you to arrange with one of the larger and already approved funds to collect money on their behalf. If your organisation collects donations on behalf of another organisation, remember to comply with state and territory government collections acts.
Donations to an appeal are tax deductible if the organisation operating the appeal is endorsed as a deductible gift recipient (DGR) and is an overseas aid fund. You can check whether an organisation is a DGR on the Australian Business Register. Information about non-government organisations that operate tax deductible overseas aid funds is also available on the AusAID website.
If you are an employer, you may collect donations from your employees on behalf of a DGR through a workplace giving program or under a salary sacrifice arrangement. Recent changes to the tax law mean that from 1 April 2008, donations made to DGRs under a salary sacrifice arrangement are not subject to fringe benefits tax.
For more information about making tax deductible donations, collecting on behalf of a DGR and related issues, refer to Assisting victims of disasters.
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Last Modified: Monday, 5 October 2009