Tax-deductible donations up by more than 24% in 2015

Tax-deductible donations up by more than 24% in 2015
Posted 12 Aug 2016 13:08 Updated 12 Aug 2016 13:32

SINGAPORE: Tax-deductible donations rose by more than 24 per cent to S$1.4 billion in 2015, according to the annual report by the Office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) released on Friday (Aug 12).

According to the report, the increase was largely spurred by the increase in tax deduction from 250 per cent to 300 per cent to encourage more charitable giving in celebration of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee.

"This substantial increase in donations can be attributed to the raising of the lifetime funding cap for each organisation under the Cultural Matching Fund, from S$10 million to S$15 million in 2015," Commisioner of Charities Low Puk Yeong said in the report.

The Office of the COC said that it will continue to work with all charities and partners to uphold good standards of governance and transparency.

Among this are the many new collaborations the charity council established with various agencies from the people and private sector in 2015 - all with the common goal to help strengthen governance standards and capabilities of our charities, Mr Low said.

"This included joint initiatives with the Institute of the Chartered Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Chartered Secretaries Institute of Singapore, the Singapore Management University and the NUS Centre for Social Development Asia," he added.

Mr Low also cited the Charity transparency Framework (CTF) as a key initiative.

The CTF, which is a scorecard for charities to perform self-assessment, served to enhance disclosure and governance practices for charities, Mr Low said.

PROTECTING CHARITIES FROM TERRORIST FINANCING ABUSE

In a statement, the Office of the COC said that one of its key areas of focus in 2015 was to "sensitise charities to the risks of being used as a channel for terrorist financing".

To this end, a guide, "Protecting Your Charity Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing" was published in May 2015, the Office said.

Mr Low added: "Anecdotal evidence in recent years indicates that some charities are more vulnerable to exploitation for terrorism or terrorist financing ... My Office also held targeted engagement sessions with charities to raise their understanding of the safeguards and due diligence measures to protect them from such risks."

"Strong co-ordination networks are also established between my Office and the law enforcement and Intel agencies to facilitate information sharing and inter-agency collaboration."

The report also said charities with exemplary disclosures efforts will be recognised at the inaugural Charity Transparency Awards in Sep 2016.

- CNA/am


- wong chee tat :)