Rural Women rail against costs for charity

Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) is concerned about proposed changes to the Charities Bill that will see higher compliance costs heaped on charitable organisations.

RWNZ President, Ellen Ramsay says that the Bill proposes a Charities Commission in New Zealand to monitor and promote compliance with the act.

“Every time a tier of management is created, substantial new costs are introduced. We would seriously question the value of this expense to non-profit organisations and the New Zealand taxpayer at large,” Mrs Ramsay says.

The proposed Commission will be a Crown Agency with its own Board, reporting to the Minister of Commerce.

Mrs Ramsay states that the rural sector is already more than familiar with the impact of growing compliance costs, having seen about 20 new taxes introduced since 1999.

“The costs associated with satisfying new levels of bureaucracy can be crippling for commercial businesses, let alone non-profit ones. Now even our ability to be charitable will become more costly,” she says.

Rural Women New Zealand is a charitable organisation that has been dedicated to assisting rural communities since 1925. Among their many charitable contributions, RWNZ offers substantial annual bursaries to assist students from rural areas.

“God may help those who help themselves, but the Government surely doesn’t,” says Mrs Ramsay.

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