This month marks a year since I commenced leading the ATO's Not-for-profit and Government experience portfolio. Reflecting on this time, one of the most rewarding aspects of the role has been getting to know various stakeholders and people across the sector and seeing firsthand the dedication that goes into supporting communities every day. Thank you to everyone who has generously shared their experiences and insights with me and my team over this time. Such insights are incredibly valuable to inform our work.
In my first column, I spoke about our commitment to helping not-for-profits get it right and meet their tax and super obligations with confidence and clarity. That commitment continues to guide our work today.
As we continue supporting NFPs to meet their obligations, I'd like to highlight three updates that may be relevant to your organisation: translated information about the NFP self-review return, refreshed resources for First Nations Australians, and a reminder about our NFP tax, super and registry responsibilities checklist, which can help you prepare for an upcoming AGM.
Lodgments due for the NFP self-review return
Self-assessing NFPs with an active ABN have just two weeks remaining to lodge their 2025-26 NFP self-review return by the due date of 31 October.
Thank you to the many organisations that have already lodged. If you haven't yet completed your return, now is the time to act. We have detailed guidance and support available to help you lodge at www.ato.gov.au/NFPtaxexempt. These resources now include information translated into Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean and Vietnamese.
As I mentioned in my last column, we are taking a more active approach to addressing overdue NFP self-review returns. As part of this, we have issued failure to lodge penalties to organisations that have not responded to our numerous reminders about overdue lodgments. You can read more about our approach in this edition at Penalties for overdue NFP self-review returns.
The easiest way to avoid a late lodgment penalty is to lodge on time. Once you're ready to lodge, you can submit your return in under 10 minutes.
Guidance for First Nations Australians
We've recently refreshed our guides for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to make it easier to find practical information about running an NFP organisation.
These guides cover key tax and super information in a straightforward and accessible way. Topics include:
- Concessions that may be available to NFPs
- Paying tax on funding and grants
- Receiving tax-deductible gifts
- Are your workers volunteers, contractors or employees?
- Registering your organisation - information about getting an ABN and registering for GST, FBT, PAYG withholding and more.
I encourage you to explore these resources if they may be useful to your organisation or community.
Preparing for your AGM
For many NFPs, AGM season is now approaching. It's a useful opportunity to step back, review your organisation's activities and make sure important governance, tax and administrative responsibilities are up to date.
The NFP tax, super and registry responsibilities checklist can help you prepare. You can use it to check whether you've notified us of changes to your details, are on track with director ID requirements, and have reviewed your NFP's governing documents.
As well as checks that apply to all NFPs, there are specific sections for organisations that are self-assessing as income tax exempt, charities, deductible gift recipients (DGRs) and taxable NFPs.
If you're welcoming new committee members or saying farewell to departing members after your AGM, don't forget to update your organisation's permissions and authorised contacts. Check out our article from the last edition, Managing NFP authorised contacts and permissions, for a quick refresher about how to update your NFP's permissions.
Best regards
Tom