TalkTax

The recent decision in Canterbury Development Corporation & Ors v Charities Commission (see cch.co.nz) provides a useful consideration of the “blue pencil” provisions in s. 61B of the Charitable Trusts Act 1957.  Essentially s. 61B can be used to delete provisions of a trust that invalidate a charitable purpose.  However,  although the section refers to a “trust”, the High Court has interpreted the legislation broadly and to be read as referring to a charitable entity rather than to be limited to a charitable trust.  Although this decision did not assist the appellant in this case, it provides a useful clarification regarding the scope and limitations of s.61B .

Are you an international charity that has recently applied for listing on Schedule 32 of the Income Tax Act 2007?  Or do you have a client in this position?  If so, we would like to hear from you.

Very briefly, Schedule 32 status is afforded to a select few international charities, and with the lifting of the caps on donations credits and deductions, there has been a flood of applications to be listed.

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Recent publicity surrounding funding of local sports clubs following the decision in Travis Trust , highlights the difficulties that exist for sporting bodies that seek registration as a charity.

While many sporting bodies are registered as tax charities, the charitable status of many sports is as best unclear.

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Unlike the naked Archimedes’s joyful exclamation, the recent exposé of the Eureka Trust comes as a more serious warning for those working in the charitable sector. Charities never need to bother with tax issues do they? Actually, yes…

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