<div dir="ltr">Hey Folks<div><br></div><div>We did look into charitable status, and I was talking to someone else about this the other day.</div><div><br></div><div>The issue with being a charitable organisation is that it does enable people to donate money to us without them paying tax on it (tax deductible donations), but it limits what we can spend that money on. For example, we could not spend the money on travel grants.</div><div><br></div><div>So it was agreed that it's not worth getting charitable status. We can look into it, and I have a colleague who is doing a leadership program with me who has more experience, so I can talk to him more about it. I am not convinced that it's worth the effort, though.</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, 16 Mar 2021 at 17:06, John Bryant <<a href="mailto:johnwbryant@gmail.com">johnwbryant@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Ed, responding here because I can't post to the board list, but I can provide a bit of background that may help.</div><div><br></div><div>In March 2019, we did a review of options for forming an entity [1], comparing the pros & cons of an association vs a company limited by guarantee, and some other options as well.</div><div><br></div><div>The key disadvantage of registering as an incorporated association was that it meant registering in a single state, which would require that at least one officer/director live in that state, which felt problematic for an org that aims to operate internationally. <br></div><div><br></div><div>There were also concerns about whether we could undertake activities outside Australia as a state-based association, but I believe there are some organisations similar to OO that operate like this, so it may be possible.</div><div><br></div><div>At the time, I met with someone who was involved in setting up GovHack and he strongly recommended the CLG model, based on their experience.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Our recommendation was (in part): "A CLG is better suited to our requirement to operate, and draw membership & leadership from, across Oceania."</div><div><br></div><div>We underestimated the annual filing fee by quite a bit... we hoped that we could gain Special Purpose Company status, with the intent of reducing annual fees. We revived the discussion about SPC status in May 2020, when the annual fee came due, but were advised by Macquarie Accountants that we wouldn't be eligible.<br></div><div><br></div><div>The question of charitable status also came up at the same time. There was a suggestion that the Finance Committee could follow up on this but I don't know if that ever happened.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, the March 2019 proposal doc is worth a read, it has a fairly detailed breakdown of the options, based on what we knew at the time.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Cheers</div><div>John<br></div><div><br></div><div>[1] <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LCoaNY9xACkpE_E1pTn3pGkNV41rqmoK5QkKl2FAfwY" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LCoaNY9xACkpE_E1pTn3pGkNV41rqmoK5QkKl2FAfwY</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, 16 Mar 2021 at 12:37, Edoardo Neerhut <<a href="mailto:eneerhut@gmail.com" target="_blank">eneerhut@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">That's crazy Greg. Checking Xero and it seems we paid a similar amount last year. ~$1,450.<div><br></div><div>Looking at this very superficially, it looks like an <a href="https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/clubs-and-fundraising/incorporated-associations/fees-and-forms" target="_blank">incorporated association</a> is a far cheaper option. Do any of you recall some of the merits of registering as a company limited by guarantee and why this was chosen as our preferred model? </div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 15 Mar 2021 at 20:11, Greg Lauer <<a href="mailto:gregory.lauer@gmail.com" target="_blank">gregory.lauer@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div id="gmail-m_-413673440670132424gmail-m_-6839113432893684011gmail-m_2564510914703738281__MailbirdStyleContent" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-align:left" dir="ltr">
I think it is time that we review our legal structure. We are now paying $1500/year just in admin fees to ASIC. That is before accounting costs etc.<div><br></div><div>Greg<br><div><br></div></div><blockquote type="cite" style="border-left-style:solid;border-width:1px;margin-top:20px;margin-left:0px;padding-left:10px;min-width:500px">
<p style="color:rgb(170,170,170);margin-top:10px">On 3/16/2021 1:02:50 PM, Belinda Hippel <<a href="mailto:bhippel@macqacc.com.au" target="_blank">bhippel@macqacc.com.au</a>> wrote:</p><div style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Hi Directors<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Please find attached the ASIC Industry Funding Levy, which is due for payment on 23<sup>rd</sup> April 2021.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Regards<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Belinda Hippel<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><img style="width: 3.0312in; height: 1.0104in;" id="gmail-m_-413673440670132424gmail-m_-6839113432893684011gmail-m_2564510914703738281_x0000_i1028" src="cid:17839302a9d4cff311" alt="MA Letterhead_Temp Art 2012-05-30.png" width="291" height="97"><img style="width: 1.802in; height: 1.0416in;" id="gmail-m_-413673440670132424gmail-m_-6839113432893684011gmail-m_2564510914703738281Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:17839302a9d5af44d2" alt="xero-certified-advisor-logo-hires-RGB" width="173" height="100"></span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span>
<span style="font-size:9pt;color:black">Level 2, 18 Elizabeth Street Hobart Tasmania 7000<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:black"> Postal: GPO Box 92 Hobart Tasmania 7001<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:black"> Telephone: (03) 6224 6400<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:black"> Facsimile:
</span><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:9pt;color:black">(03) 6224 6401<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:black"> Email:
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="mailto:bhippel@macqacc.com.au" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:blue">bhippel@macqacc.com.au</span></a></span><span style="font-size:9pt;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">WARNING - This email and any of its attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please delete immediately and notify Macquarie
Accounting by return email.</span><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
</div></blockquote></div><img style="border: 0px none;" src="https://tracking.getmailbird.com/OpenTrackingPixel/?messageId=Mailbird-2a4d5990-0512-44af-838a-8297af022bf5@gmail.com&senderHash=38A2B06F13C868980E8E5D98E6C576293FF094FB7BFEF8917BA94F0062959723&recipientHash=D5A3C09A9754041AB03438FE85772A908771B7CAA0846AF70371AF02B2B6D02A&internalId=29a42058-36ff-4c50-9760-d250cf84eb1c" width="1" height="1">
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Alex Leith<br></div>m: 0419189050</div></div>