A recent article by Amy Wald in the monthly Association of Fraud Examiners Magazine highlights the danger of fraudulent activity within Not For Profit Organisations. I have summarised the article as follows:
 
Non-profit organisations are known for their charity, compassion, and generosity. Funded by the donations of others in the public and private sectors, they serve communities at national, state, and local levels with services that would otherwise be unavailable. In the midst of so much goodness there are individuals who are there for other purposes.
 
Such may be the case for Louanne Aponte, who prosecutors say stole more than $300,000 from Family Connections, an Austin-based nonprofit that supplied approximately 32,000 families with childcare support and resources.
 
Aponte allegedly used her position as director of the organization to misappropriate funds by depositing them into her own bank accounts. Her alleged crimes include manufacturing fake audit reports to obtain government and state contracts and developing a shell company, called Excite and Challenge (EAC), to which she regularly issued cheques. The EAC's bank accounts were actually personal ones through which she used money to finance large purchases, such as a $53,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible, a ski boat, and a $300,000 home.

The Australian Government’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (the Clearing House) will soon be operational through Medicare Australia. Registration for the clearing house service has now commenced and the full Clearing House service will be available from 1 July 2010.

Any small business with less than 20 staff can register to use the free Clearing House if they choose.

Registered small businesses can pay their employees’ superannuation into a single location in one simple electronic transaction. The Clearing House will then send the contributions to the nominated superannuation funds.

For small businesses, the convenience of making one easy payment means they can meet their superannuation guarantee obligations and save on time and paperwork. A built-in reporting function means they can access a record of their contribution history whenever it’s needed.

Small businesses can now register for the service online. Details on how to register can be found at:
Website: www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/super


A business was hit with Fringe Benefits Tax of $9,501.63/year after the ATO reviewed the car logbook and identified that the car was parked overnight at a home address, but the business use percentage did not account for the private use of traveling between work and home. The ATO deemed the logbook as invalid, which put the business use at 0%, and calculated FBT on the car based on annual kilometers traveled (in this case between 25,000 and 40,000, so 11% based on the car purchase price of $83,645) which amounted to fringe benefits tax payable of $9,501.63 by the company (fringe benefits tax is payable in a company or a trust, or when claiming a car in a partnership or sole trader, the actual car expenses claimed will be disallowed).

  1. Fixed Price Agreements – Certainty of Price and Service
  2. Major Tax Changes for Trusts
  3. Quality Assurance Review
  4. Cooper Review into Superannuation