On 21 November, Prime Minister John Howard announced that he will simplify the GST BAS for small business. Tax Office Deputy Commissioner, Rick Matthews, told a Senate Budget Estimates Committee yesterday it was one of the simplest GST forms in the world and was designed using International Monetary Fund best practice. This sets out the views of the ATO on what is a public benevolent institution. It also gives the ATO s views about when a public benevolent institution is a charitable institution and when it is considered to be in Australia for gift deduction purposes. This link takes you straight to the Ruling on the ATO legal database.
Membership bestows rights to members even where nothing tangible is supplied.
If an individual makes a donation to a charity registered for GST and receives an advantage of a material character in return, the donation is not a gift and constitutes consideration for a supply made by the charity to the individual. An example is an individual suffering some illness who makes a donation to a charity operating for the public benefit to advance the health of sufferers of that illness. As a result of the donation, the charity admits the individual to its membership. As a member, the individual is entitled to obtain advice from the charity about her symptoms and medication and attend support groups and health seminars organised by it. She also receives a bi-monthly newsletter.