When are donations made to individuals or organisations raising money for the disaster relief, tax deductible?
For donations to be tax deductible, the individual or organisation receiving the donation must be endorsed as a deductible gift recipient (DGR) by the Tax Office or be listed by name in tax law. If the donations are to be used overseas, the individual or organisation must also get approval through AusAID. In view of the urgency of the relief efforts the Tax Office has been advising donors to make arrangements with DGRs which already have overseas aid approval or to enter into arrangements to collect donations on behalf of them. The Tax Office will expedite DGR applications where AusAID has approved individuals or organisations directing their donations to recipients not receiving assistance through recognised DGRs. People can check the tax deductible status of an organisation by visiting www.ato.gov.au/nonprofit and clicking on Tax deductible donations located on the left hand side of the screen. To check if the organisation is an approved overseas aid fund go to the right hand side of
