The ATO has introduced an annual self-review return requirement for non-charitable NFP organisations with an active Australian Business Number (ABN) to confirm their eligibility for income tax exemption. The inaugural NFP self-review return for the 2023–24 income year was due by 31 March 2025.
Please refer to our previous article for details on the questions found in the return.
What happens if you lodge your return late?
If your NFP has missed the 31 March 2025 deadline, it is important to submit the return as soon as possible. The ATO has suspended penalties for late lodgement of the 2023-24 return with its transitional support for the NFP sector.
From July 2025, the ATO will review NFPs that intentionally ignore their obligations and non-compliant NFPs may face further scrutiny and potential tax liabilities.
Steps to take if you haven’t lodged yet
If your NFP has not yet submitted the return, the following steps will help you fulfil your obligations and demonstrate to the ATO you’ve taken action:
Lodge your return immediately
NFPs can submit their self-review return using the ATO’s Online Services for Business or the self-help phone service at 13 72 26. A registered tax agent can also assist with lodgement.
Updating your NFPs ABN details
Accurate ABN details are essential for tax-exempt eligibility. If your organisation’s details have changed, update them via:
- submitting a Change of Registration Details form.
If a Change of Registration Details form has already been lodged and is pending, the ATO will acknowledge this during their records review.
Future compliance and potential reviews
The ATO is committed to supporting NFPs that make genuine efforts to meet their obligations. However, from July 2025, organisations that ignore their self-review return requirements and fail to engage with the ATO may face:
- compliance reviews
- financial penalties and
- loss of income tax exemption.
How SW can help
To avoid repercussions and maintain compliance, ensure your organisation submits the self-review return as soon as possible and keeps up with ongoing reporting requirements.
Our NFP experts can assist with the preparation and lodgement of the return and assess your border eligibility for income tax exempt status.
Contributors
支柱二实施了一套全球最低税框架，旨在确保跨国企业按公平原则纳税，不论其经营所在地。
本常见问答栏目针对支柱二的实施、对企业的影响以及合规要求这几方面的重要问题提出了看法。无论贵公司想了解实际税率、报告义务还是豁免，都可以在此找到清楚扼要的答案。
Last night the 2025 Federal Budget was handed down by the Treasurer aiming to address inflation, higher interest rates and cost of living.
Australia is facing significant economic challenges, and some predict a difficult time ahead. With inflation, tariffs, interest rates, the cost of living, and housing pressures rising—alongside a decline in exports—Australians want to know what is in Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ cookbook to tackle these issues and what solutions he can put on the table for the country.
We explore the key takeaways from the 2025/26 Federal Budget and answer what’s on the table for businesses, industries and communities across Australia- uncovering opportunities of resilience and growth for your financial landscape.
What does the Federal Budget mean for you?
Our Fast Facts provide an overview of the budget insights and highlight potential opportunities for your sector.
Take a look at what the Federal Budget means for you in 2025:
Follow us on LinkedIn to receive the latest updates on Federal Budget and other important industry news.
Pillar Two introduces a global minimum tax framework aimed at ensuring multinational enterprises pay a fair level of tax, regardless of where they operate.
This FAQ section addresses key questions about its implementation, impact on businesses, and compliance requirements. Whether you’re looking for insights on effective tax rates, reporting obligations, or exemptions, you’ll find clear and concise answers here.
Join our 2025 Corporate Tax update seminar to ensure you are up to date with the latest developments in corporate and international income tax.
Our seminar will be delivered in an interactive format with SW expert Daren Yeoh, Tax Director, Antony Cheung, Senior Tax Manager, Yang Shi, Tax Director and Christine Krause, Director, Audit & Assurance Services. Our speakers will equip you with invaluable insights into the latest developments in corporate and international income tax.
This seminar will explore the following topics:
- Updates on Corporate and International Income Tax: Stay ahead with in-depth discussions on recent changes, including revisions to the thin capitalisation regime, debt creation rules, Pillar 2 implications, and nuances in dealing with intangibles.
- Transfer pricing update: Gain clarity on changes to the CbC reporting requirements, ensuring you’re well-prepared for any forthcoming adjustments.
- Analysis of Develops in Case Law and ATO rulings: Delve into notable developments in case law and ATO Rulings to enhance your understanding of current legal precedents and their implications for corporate tax practices.
- Other changes: Gain insights into the recent changes affecting corporate groups, including the updates to the Payment Times Reporting Scheme (PTRS).
SW Speakers
Daren Yeoh
Partner and Corporate & International Tax Director
Yang Shi
Partner and Transfer Pricing Director
Christina Krause
Partner and Audit and Assurance Services Director
At our annual Employment Taxes update for the Not-for-profit, Government and Corporate sectors, our experts delve into the ever-evolving world of employment taxes to help you stay ahead in this dynamic field.
Our experts provided an update on:
- New and topical developments including recent car parking case and ATO FBT compliance activity
- FBT recap and hot topics – including changes to hybrid electric vehicles and NFP exemption
- Global mobility – including flexible remote working arrangements and key employer considerations
- Payday superannuation
- Fair work changes – implications on employee v contractors
- Latest developments in payroll tax and audit activity
- Wage theft laws
- TASA change impact on clients
Expert speakers
Rahul Sanghani
Associate Director
SW
The NFP self-review return is a new annual reporting requirements for non-charitable NFPs with an active ABN. Relevant NFPs should lodge the return annually to confirm their eligibility to self-assess their income tax exempt status.
For NFPs with a standard year end of 30 June, the return must be lodged by 31 October each year. However, for the 2023-24 income year, the ATO has extended the 31 October deadline to 31 March 2025.
Below is a summary on how to prepare to lodge the return and the ways it may be lodged.
For details of our previous update click here.
Preparing to lodge the NFP self-review return
To prepare for lodgement, organisation should:
- review the organisations governing documents and
- prepare answers to the questions using the NFP self-review return question guide.
In reviewing the organisation’s governing documents, it must contain the appropriate not-for-profit clause and dissolution clause and set out that the organisation is operating for its not-for-profit purpose. The return contains 3 sections with the following key questions:
- What is the estimated annual gross revenue for the organisation?
- Choose a category best reflecting the main purpose of the organisation
- Does the organisation have and follow clauses in its governing documents prohibiting the distribution of income or assets to individuals or members?
- Does the organisation exist, operate and incur its expenditure entirely in Australia?
- Does the organisation have charitable purposes?
Ways to lodge the NFP self-review return
The ATO offers several methods for lodging returns, including:
- online
- through a registered agent and
- over the phone.
Lodging online
If you are an authorised contact for your organisation with access to Online services for business, you can lodge the return online. The ATO outlines the following process for lodging the return using this method:
- Select either:
- View next to the NFP self-review return in the Lodgements section of the For Action panel
- NFP self-review return from the Lodgements menu
- Select Prepare next to the return (you must prepare the oldest return first)
- Complete the mandatory details
- Tick the acknowledgments and declaration
- Select Submit
To note: Due to changes in office holders, many NFPs are unaware of who the authorised contact is for the NFP. It can be harder to change the authorised contact than to complete the NFP self-review return. We recommend completing ATO Form NAT 2943 and sending to the ATO to change the authorised contact for your NFP.
Lodging through a registered Tax Agent
If you’ve engaged a registered Tax Agent, they can prepare and lodge your organisation’s NFP self-review return through Online services for agents.
To note: Most NFPs do not have a Tax Agent as they have not had to lodge tax returns in the past. Whilst a lot of NFPs may have engaged a BAS Agent to lodge their Business Activity Statement a BAS Agent can not lodge the NFP self-review return.
Lodging over the phone
The ATO outlines the following process for those choosing to lodge over the phone:
- first review the list of self-review return questions
- prepare your responses to each question and have these with you when you call. You must refer to your governing documents to answer some of the questions
- phone the self-help service on 13 72 26 and select NFP self-review return lodgement
- enter the organisation’s ABN and a reference number listed on any letter we have posted to your organisation, such as Your annual self-review reporting obligation or the Lodge your NFP self-review return notice:
- the ABN will be listed as ‘Client ID’
- the reference number will be listed as ‘Our reference’
- follow the prompts to record your responses and submit the NFP self-review return questions.
Although these methods streamline the lodgement process, organisations with limited access to online resources may still face difficulties.
If so, lodgement of the return over the phone or through a registered agent can mitigate these difficulties.
Post-lodgement
Once the return is submitted, you’ll receive a transaction reference number to retain for your records. This will have a self-assessment outcome of either:
- income tax exempt or
- taxable.
Income tax exempt
If you successfully submitted your NFP self-review return and self-assessed as income tax exempt, the organisation has completed its reporting requirements for this income year. The NFP self-review return will need to be lodged in subsequent years.
If the return was lodged via Online services for business, the return information will be pre-filled for next year, making future lodgements easier
Taxable
If you successfully lodged your NFP self-review return and self-assessed as taxable, the organisation does not qualify for income tax exemption.
Thus, the organisation does not need to complete an annual NFP self-review return. Instead, they must lodge an income tax return or notify of a non-lodgement advice each income year.
How SW can help
We can assist with the preparation and lodgement of the return and assess your border eligibility for income tax exempt status. Please contact our Tourism, Hospitality and Gaming (THG) industry experts and not-for-profit experts.
Contributors
Discover the latest updates in tax effect accounting with expert insights into accounting for income taxes.
Our expert will provide you with topical content of relevance as well as an update on what’s new in tax effect accounting, including information about the following topics:
- Key tax matters to consider in your TEA calculations
- Calculation of tax balances
- Equity accounted entries
- Business combinations
- Tax accounting for tax consolidated groups
- Accounting for tax uncertain tax treatments
Session details
- Date Thursday 28 November 2024
- Time 9.30 – 10.30am (AEDT)
- Delivery Online (Zoom)
Your speaker:
Andrew Wu
Manager
SW
The ATO has released the first Research & Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI) Transparency Report for 2021–22, detailing which companies claimed the R&DTI.
The ATO has published the first R&DTI Transparency Report covering the 2021–22 income year. The R&DTI program aims to strengthen innovation by providing tax offsets for eligible R&D activities. To promote greater transparency and voluntary compliance, a legal requirement for publication of R&D data came into effect in July 2021, following reforms to the policy and administration of the R&DTI program.
The report outlines the benefits received by R&D entities and seeks to raise public awareness on which companies benefit from the R&D Tax Incentive. It also aims to encourage voluntary compliance with the program’s requirement.
The R&DTI is one of Australia’s key programs to drive innovation, offering a tax offset to catalyse companies to engage in R&D activities they may not undertake due to the financial risks involved. This can allow companies to invest more in innovation, boosting their competitive edge while contributing to Australia’s economic growth.
Under the new legislation, the ATO is required to publish R&D data 2 years after the end of the financial year that the data relates to. The newly released transparency report offers key insights into the companies and industries leveraging the incentive to help invest in R&D activities:
- 11,545 companies claimed R&D expenditure in the 2021–22 income year, amounting to $11.2 billion in total claims.
- Small businesses represent a significant share of participants, comprising 48% of claimants.
- The industry with the highest number of claimants across all business populations is the professional, scientific, and technical services industry, accounting for 43% of claims.
- Public and multinational businesses claimed the highest expenditure, contributing $4.9 billion to the total
How SW can help
11,545 companies are included in the report, with around 850 companies excluded due to having a substituted accounting period (SAP) beginning before 1 July 2021.
If your company participated in the R&DTI program during the 2021–22 income year, your R&D claims are part of a publicly available report. The report details the names, ABNs, and total R&D expenditure.
The ATO added a notice to the R&DTI schedule informing future applicants that their data will be included in the R&DTI transparency reporting.
Please reach out to SW R&D Tax & Government Incentives team for guidance and further discussion on how this report impacts you and your business.
Contributor
On 21 October 2024, the Victorian Government announced a temporary off-the-plan duty concession to ease the financial burden for buyers of off-the-plan properties like apartments and townhouses in strata subdivisions.
This new concession is set to last for 12 months and attempts to address ongoing challenges in the Victorian property market, particularly amid high construction costs and interest rates which impact both supply and demand of residential properties.
How does it work?
The concession allows purchasers to deduct construction costs incurred after the contract date from the dutiable value of their property, potentially reducing the stamp duty owed. Unlike the existing concessions, this one will be open to all purchasers, including investors, companies, and trusts—not just first-home buyers or owner-occupiers. The concession is available only for contracts entered into between 21 October 2024 for 12 months ending 21 October 2025.
Who benefits?
- Investors: With the concession extending to investors, who can acquire the property as individuals or via companies and trusts, it could attract more property investments.
- Developers: This could incentivise more off-the-plan projects by helping drive pre-sales, which are critical for securing project financing. The reduced stamp duty may make such developments more appealing to a broader buyer base, providing developers with the upfront sales needed to get projects off the ground.
- Buyers: This will offer significant savings for buyers in strata developments, addressing affordability issues as housing demand continues to outstrip supply.
Potential challenges:
- Limited scope: The concession only applies to strata subdivisions. House-and-land packages and other property types are excluded.
- Foreign purchasers: While foreign buyers benefit from the concession, they will still face the additional Foreign Purchaser Additional Duty (FPAD) which could temper the overall savings for them.
- Limited project pipeline: With ongoing challenges such as rising construction costs and town planning delays, there are relatively few projects ready to be released to the market over the next 12 months. This may lead to developers rushing incomplete or financially unviable projects to market just to take advantage of the concession. The risk? Some of these projects may never get off the ground, potentially causing complications for purchasers.
Overall, while this temporary concession is a positive step towards stimulating residential property development and easing affordability concerns in Victoria it may not provide enough time to drive substantial change in the property market. The property cycle takes several years to recover to market peak. In Victoria, previous off-the-plan concessions lasted from 2008 to 2017 and gave the market a nine-year window to benefit. That extended timeframe allowed developers and buyers to adapt and maximise the opportunities. In comparison, this shorter concession period might not allow for the same level of market stimulation, limiting its overall impact on increasing housing supply and improving affordability.
How SW can help
At SW, our property and stamp duty experts can provide the off-the-plan duty concession analysis and advice to help clients identify the most suitable concession method for their project to achieve the optimal duty outcome for their buyers.
We can also prepare reports and forecasts taking into account the impact of the concession to assist clients in negotiating better terms with banks and financiers.
Please contact us if you have any questions in relation to the above.