Requirements for a Charitable Trust
At the very least, a charitable trust must:
– have a charitable purpose;
– have trustees to administer the trust;
– have a registered address in New Zealand;
– be internally managed by a trust deed;
– keep a record of trustee meetings through minutes and resolutions; and
– keep proper financial records.
Annual returns and Auditing
A charitable trust will be required to submit annual returns that vary in requirements depending on the tier of charity. This varies as follows:
– Tier 1: Over $30 million expenditure;
– Tier 2: Under $30 million expenditure;
– Tier 3: Under $2 million annual expenses; or
– Tier 4: Under $125,000 annual operating expenses.
Regarding the auditing of accounts, if the total operating expenditure for the last two accounting periods was:
– over $500,000 – financial statements must be either audited or reviewed by a qualified auditor; or
– over $1 million – financial statements must be audited by a qualified auditor.
Charities Services
After your trust board is incorporated, you may apply to Charities Services to register as a charity. Once you are registered with Charities Services you will engage with them in relation to ongoing compliance requirements such as annual reports and notifying changes. The following areas need to be updated if there are changes:
– the name of the charity;
– a change in the officers;
– the rules;
– the address for service;
– the purposes of the charity; and
– the balance date.
These changes can be made online rather than by filing paper forms.
Every situation is unique so please discuss your situation with a professional advisor who can provide tailored solutions to you. We offer advice on all aspects of charitable trusts and are happy to answer any questions that you might have. Contact Steven Moe at stevenmoe@parryfield.com or 03-348-8480 for more information.
