Charities Act Update

Charities are reminded that in order to retain or obtain charitable-purpose tax exemptions, they must register with the Charities Commission by 1 July 2008. The Charities Commission is currently processing applications from November/December 2007. Therefore, later applications for charitable status may not be processed by 1 July 2008. However, the Commission does have the power to backdate an organisation’s charitable entity status to the date it received the properly completed application. Tax benefits can be claimed provided an application is received prior to 1 July 2008.

An application to the Commission involves completing the prescribed application forms and providing a certified copy of the rules of the charity. Registering a charity is often not straightforward. Therefore, legal advice is recommended.

Taser Update

The New Zealand Police are strongly in favour of Tasers being introduced, following the end of their trial last year. But controversy surrounding the Taser continues. An article entitled “Think Twice About Tasers”, released by the Auckland District Law Society, cautions against a hasty implementation of the Taser and considers that strict guidelines need to be in place to prevent the Police from developing a casual attitude towards its use.

The introduction of the Taser will also have wider implications for New Zealand in terms of compliance with the Bill of Rights Act and International Law obligations. The Law Society has suggested that the final decision should be made by an independent body with provision for the public to make submissions.