Not-for-profit volunteers

You need to understand the various obligations your not-for-profit organisation has concerning its volunteers.

Although there is no legal definition of 'volunteer' for tax purposes, a volunteer does not work under a contractual obligation for remuneration and would not be an employee or independent contractor. So, if any of your workers are not employees or independent contractors, they will be volunteers.

As a general rule:

• Volunteers do not have to pay tax on payments or benefits they receive in their capacity as volunteers.
• Not-for-profit organisations are not liable for pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and fringe benefits tax (FBT) on payments they make, or benefits they provide, to volunteers.

Find out about:

• Paying volunteers
• Donations by volunteers
• Volunteers and GST
• Volunteers and FBT
• Volunteers and PAYG withholding