Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL), HKU

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AIIFL Lectures & Seminars / Peter Willoughby Memorial Lecture

Joint CFRED – TLRP Tax Seminar: Tax Concessions Granted To Charities – An International Comparison

Taxation Law Research Programme (TLRP) | AIIFL - HKU LAW | Centre for Financial Regulation and Economic Development / CUHK

Date & Time Friday, 1 April 2016 12:30-1:30 pm (HKT)
Duration 1:00
Location CUHK Graduate Law Centre, LT1, 2/F Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong

Taxation concessions are commonly granted to non-profit organisations (NPOs), both in common law countries and those with civil law backgrounds. These concessions are a significant cost to the relevant government’s tax revenue, for example, the Australian Treasury estimates that the annual concession costs the revenue $1.3 billion. Dr Martin’s work investigates and compares the range of concessions granted in Australia, England, USA, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In order to understand how the concessions are granted, the legal concepts that define not-for-profit/non-profit; charity; public benefit and tax deductibility of donations needed to be understood in the context of each jurisdiction. It was found that although there are core areas of commonality there are some differences in the definitions and treatment of NPOs and charities. Critical findings include the significance and widespread use of the exemption from income tax of income of charities. In Australia, all income of charities is exempt, however in other countries, e.g. the USA and Japan, the exemption only extends to income that is used for their public benefit purpose. Charitable income that arises from business activities is subject to income tax. Another significant area of difference is the treatment of donations. In Australia all donations to specified NPOs (and some government agencies) are deductible from income tax. In other jurisdictions there are limits to the tax deductibility of donations and in England there is a different approach involving a tax rebate granted to the charity.

About the Speaker

Dr. Fiona Martin

School of Taxation and Business Law, UNSW, Sydney

Chair

Dr. Yan Xu

Scientia Associate Professor, School of Taxation and Business Law, University of New South Wales (Australia)

(Faculty of Law, CUHK)