Tax and giving

Taxation information

The following information has been sourced from the Australian Taxation Office guidelines, and may help you when making your gift.  This information is for general purposes only, and we advise that you also consult your financial advisor or accountant.

ABN

QUT's Australian Business Number (ABN) is 83 791 724 622.

Deductible gift recipient (DGR/ITEC)

QUT is registered as a deductible gift recipient (DGR) under Subdivision 30-BA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and is endorsed by the ATO as an income tax exempt charity (ITEC).

Tax deductible gifts

You can claim tax deductions for gifts made to deductible gift recipients (DGRs). To be tax deductible, a gift must be money or property that comes under these gift types:

• monetary donations must be $2 or more.
• property less than 12 months old; that is, property that was purchased new during the 12 months before the gift was made
• property valued at more than $5,000 - a valuation by the ATO is required
• trading stock disposed of outside the ordinary course of business
• cultural gifts, that are classified as property under the Cultural Gift Program
• National Estate gifts, which are places listed in the Register of the National Estate.

GST

Under the GST law, making a gift to a non-profit organisation is not payment for a supply by the non-profit body. 'Gift' and 'non-profit' have specific meanings in this context and are explained at paragraphs 57 to 68 in GST Ruling GSTR 2000/11.

A payment is considered to be a gift where:

• the payment is made voluntarily, and
• the payer does not receive a material advantage in return for making the payment.

A further characteristic of a gift is that it essentially arises from benefaction, and the gift proceeds from the detached and disinterested generosity of the payer.

Student scholarships may incur GST depending upon the nature of the scholarship e.g. whether it includes a work component.

Grants and GST

GST is payable if a taxable supply of goods or services is exchanged for the grant.

If no provision of goods or services is exchanged for the grant, GST is still payable if, under an agreement between QUT and the grant provider, QUT has an obligation to do something in exchange for the grant. This is because, for GST purposes, QUT is making a supply when it enters into an obligation to do something with the grant.

QUT must have an obligation to do something for GST to be payable. It is not enough for the grant provider just to have an expectation that QUT will do something with the grant.