Questions and answers

Please seek advice from your tax advisor or the Australian Taxation Office about spreading your deduction across a number of years. From 1 July 2020 you are no longer required to notify the Office for the Arts that you are seeking to spread your deduction over a number of years.

For more information regarding record keeping requirements, please see:

• Election to spread gift deduction
• Record Keeping—Individuals
• Record Keeping—Business

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) may vary or disallow the deductible amount when:

• the gift is donated with conditions that prevent or delay the institution having clear title, custody and control of it, or which involve benefits to the donor, other than the allowable tax concessions, or
• you donated the gift within 12 months of acquiring it (other than by inheritance), or the gift was acquired specifically for the purpose of donating it—the allowable deduction in either case will be restricted to the purchase price or the market value, whichever is the lesser amount, or
• donated items form part of the trading stock of either a dealer or an artist donating their own work.

Despite the department's best efforts, the donation submission process may not always be finalised by your due date for lodging your tax return in the financial year you made the donation.

If you are concerned with lodging your tax return, there is information available on the Australian Tax Office's website at: Time limits on tax return amendments | Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au) which may be of assistance.

The Resale Royalty Scheme entitles visual artists to five per cent of the sale price when their artworks are commercially resold for over $1,000. Transfers of artwork made through the Cultural Gifts Program do not qualify as commercial resales under the Resale Royalty Scheme because money is not exchanged for the transfer.

The Cultural Gifts Program Guide states that 'If items are removed from a collection this should be done in accordance with the institution's authorised deaccessioning policy. Donations made under the program should not be returned to the donor as the donor has already received the benefit of a tax deduction' (page 3).

Your institutional policy should reflect this requirement of the Cultural Gifts Program in regards to deaccessioning and disposal of works received under the Program. There should be a clear statement that says donations made under the Cultural Gifts Program will not be returned to the donor if deaccessioned.

No, institutions do not need to register with the Office for the Arts to participate. Public collecting institutions must be endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) on the basis of being a public art gallery, museum or library (including archives) by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).