Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) 2021

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Bill

## What it does

This bill makes two main changes to Australian tax law. First, it updates which organisations can receive tax-deductible donations by requiring public funds to be run by government agencies or registered charities (rather than other types of organisations). Second, it adjusts tax rules for offshore banking units—special financial arrangements used by some banks.

## Why it matters

If you donate to charity, these changes affect which organisations can offer you a tax deduction. The bill also fine-tunes how certain international banking operations are taxed, which indirectly affects the tax system's fairness and revenue.

## Key details

- **Who's affected**: Charities, donors, and some financial institutions. If you donate, you'll only get a tax deduction if the organisation meets the new stricter requirements about who operates the fund.
- **Commencement**: The law takes effect on the first of January, April, July, or October after Parliament approves it (so staggered timing depending on when it passed).
- **The core shift**: Government agencies and registered charities now have clearer authority to operate public funds eligible for tax-deductible donations, cutting out intermediate arrangements that previously qualified.

Official Description

Amends the: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to require a fund, authority or institution to be a registered charity or an Australian government agency, or be operated by a registered charity or an Australian government agency, to be entitled to a deductible gift recipient endorsement; Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to remove the concessional tax treatment for offshore banking units (OBU); and Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 to: remove the ability of the minister to issue determinations or declarations that a person or entity is an OBU; and remove the withholding tax exemption for OBUs for interest (including interest consisting of gold) paid on or after 1 January 2024.

Committee Referrals

Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

17 Mar 2021

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

13 Sept 2021

Last checked by Crossbench

2 days ago

Full text indexed

2 days ago

🗳️

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

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