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Income Tax

Under Section 50.5 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 the income of a religious institution is exempt from income tax if -

(a) if it has a physical presence in Australia and, to that extent, incurs its expenditure and pursues its objectives principally in Australia, and

(b) it is endorsed as exempt from income tax by the Australian Taxation Office.

Generally speaking, the income of a parish in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney will be exempt from income tax provided that the parish is endorsed as exempt from income tax by the Australian Taxation Office. Without this endorsement the parochial unit will be required to lodge annual income tax returns.

A parish should seek endorsement for -

• exemption from income tax
• GST concessions
• FBT concessions

when it applies for an ABN.

The current status of a parish's endorsements can be checked on the Government's ABN lookup site and if these exemptions and concessions have not already been obtained, application for endorsement can be made at any time.

Current as at 21 March 2011