Funding and Disclosure Guide Donors

Transcription

1 Funding and Disclosure Guide Donors 1. Introduction 1.1 The South Australian funding and disclosure scheme was established by the insertion of Part 13A into the Electoral Act 1985 (the Act) on 1 July A person who has made a donation to a registered political party, associated entity, third party, candidate or a group may have lodgement obligations under the funding and disclosure scheme. 1.3 The disclosure threshold is $5,000 (indexed). Returns must be lodged by donors to report donations over the threshold. 1.4 Indexed means the amount is adjusted on 1 July each financial year. Current indexed values can be found on the Electoral Commission SA s website. 1.5 This guide is intended to assist donors understand their obligations under the funding and disclosure scheme. The information in this publication is intended as a general guide only. It should not be substituted for the legislation. You are advised to refer to the legislation and seek your own independent advice if necessary. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 1

2 2. Funding and Disclosure Portal 2.1 Returns required to be lodged under Part 13A of the Act are to be submitted in the Funding and Disclosure (FAD) Portal. The FAD Portal can be accessed on the Electoral Commission SA s website. 2.2 You must register an account in order to lodge returns within the FAD Portal. To register an account, on the portal landing page click the REGISTER AN ACCOUNT button. 2.3 You will be taken to a new page where you will be asked to: a) choose a username (can be anything you choose) b) enter your first name and last name c) enter your address, and d) choose a password (minimum 8 characters, 1 upper case, 1 lower case, 1 number, 1 special character). 2.4 If you are registered as a Silent Elector with the AEC, please tick the relevant box. 2.5 You will be required to agree to our privacy policy and disclaimer. 2.6 Click the Register button to complete registration. 2.7 You will be sent an to confirm registration. Click on the link in the to complete registration. You will then be automatically logged into your account. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 2

3 2.8 A pop-up will appear asking you to set up your profile: a) If you wish to lodge returns on your own behalf, click on General user. Complete your address details in the My Profile section. b) If you are a representative of an organisation and wish to lodge returns on behalf of the organisation, click on Organisation. In the My Profile section, click on Organisations on the left-hand side, and then click +Add a new organisation. Enter the name and address of the organisation. Then click Save. You can add multiple organisations to your profile by repeating this process. 2.9 You can manage your account settings in the My Profile section. a) You can add and update contact details. b) You can change your password. c) You can set up two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication will add more security to your account. Every time you log in to your account you will be sent, via SMS, a single-use passcode to enter on the log in page. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 3

4 3. Donor obligations Gifts to relevant entities 3.1 You are required to lodge a Donor Return under section 130ZH of the Act if you have made gifts totalling more than $5,000 (indexed) during a financial year to a relevant entity, which is any of the following: a) registered political party b) associated entity, or c) third party. The agent of a relevant entity is required to notify you if you are required to lodge a Donor Return. 3.2 An associated entity is defined by section 130A of the Act as an entity that has a certain type of relationship with a registered political party: a) It is controlled by one or more registered political parties. b) It operates wholly, or to a significant extent, for the benefit of one or more registered political parties. c) It is a financial member of, or on whose behalf a person is a financial member of, a registered political party. d) It has voting rights in, or on whose behalf, a person has voting rights in, a registered political party. 3.3 A third party is defined by section 130A of the Act as a person who incurs or intends to incur more than $10,000 in political expenditure during the designated period, excluding: a) A Member of the House of Assembly or Legislative Council. b) The Crown (including a public sector agency within the meaning of the Public Sector Act 2009). c) A registered political party, group or candidate. d) A person engaged in a broadcasting service (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Commonwealth) or a datacasting service. e) The publisher of a journal (including a journal published in electronic form on the internet). 3.4 If you have made a gift to any person or body with the intention of benefitting a particular relevant entity, then you will be taken to have made the gift directly to that relevant entity. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 4

5 3.5 The following are exempt from the requirement to lodge a Donor Return to report a gift made to a relevant entity: a) A relevant entity. b) A candidate. c) A member of a group. 3.6 Donor Returns for gifts made to a relevant entity are lodged half-yearly: a) If the gift was made between 1 January 30 June, a return must be lodged by 31 July of that year. b) If the gift was made between 1 July 31 December, a return must be lodged by 31 January in the next year. 3.7 An additional lodgement is required for gifts made during the designated period of an election. If a reportable gift was made during the designated period, then a return must be lodged at the end of the designated period. 3.8 The designated period for the 2018 State election commences on 1 January 2018 and ends on 16 April The Donor Return for gifts made to a relevant entity during this period is due by 16 April Gifts or loans to candidate or group 3.9 You are required to lodge a Donor Return under section 130ZG of the Act if you have made gifts or loans totalling more than $5,000 (indexed) during a disclosure period, to a candidate or group The disclosure period for an election is the period that commenced at the end of 30 days after polling day for the last preceding general election and ending at the end of 30 days after polling day for the election. The current disclosure period commenced on 1 July 2015 (the date Part 13A of the Act came into operation) The agent of the candidate or group is required to notify you if you are required to lodge a Donor Return The following are exempt from the requirement to lodge a Donor Return to report a gift or loan made to a candidate or group: a) A registered political party. b) An associated entity. c) A candidate. d) A member of a group. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 5

6 3.13 Under section 130A(5), a gift or loan made to a member of a group is taken to be a gift or loan to the group if it was made for the benefit of all members of the group Under section 130A(5), a gift or loan made to an endorsed candidate or group may be deemed to be a gift or loan made to a registered political party. A gift or loan is taken to be a gift or loan to a registered political party if it was made to: a) an endorsed candidate of the party who is not a member of a group, or b) an endorsed group all of whose members are endorsed by the same registered political party Donor Returns for gifts or loans made to a candidate or group are lodged during the designated period of an election: a) If the gift or loan was made outside the designated period, a return must be lodged within 30 days of the start of the designated period. For the 2018 State election, the return must be lodged by 31 January b) If the gift or loan was made during the designated period, a return must be lodged at the end of the designated period. For the 2018 State election, the return must be lodged by 16 April Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 6

7 4. Lodging a Donor Return 4.1 To lodge a return, log in to the FAD Portal and navigate to the left-hand side menu. Select Lodge return. 4.2 There are 4 different Donor Return tiles: a) Individual Donor Return to report a gift made to a relevant entity (if you are the donor) b) Individual Donor Return to report a gift or loan to a candidate or group (if you are the donor) c) Organisation Donor Return to report a gift made to a relevant entity (if you are lodging on behalf of an organisation) d) Organisation Donor Return to report a gift or loan to a candidate or group (if you are lodging on behalf of an organisation) 4.3 Find the relevant Donor Return tile and click the blue Lodge button. 4.4 If you are lodging a return on behalf of an organisation and you have multiple organisations added to your account, please select the relevant organisation from the drop-down list. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 7

8 4.5 For an Organisation Donor Return to report a gift or loan to a candidate or group, you will be required to provide the Prescribed Particulars for your organisation (eg the names of the executive committee members/trustees/directors). For more information about Prescribed Particulars, please refer to our Prescribed Particulars Guide. 4.6 Click on the +Add new item button to add gift or loan entries. Complete the details of the gift or loan made, in the fields provided. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 8

9 Gift passed on 4.7 Select Yes to the Gift passed on? question if you received at any time: a) gifts of more than $5,000 (indexed) that you used (either wholly or partly) to make the gift to the relevant entity, or which reimbursed you for making that gift. b) gifts or loans of more than $5,000 (indexed) that you used (either wholly or partly) to make the gift or loan to the candidate or group, or which reimbursed you for making that gift or loan. 4.8 You are required to provide the name and address of the person from whom you received the gift/loan, and the details of the gift/loan (which includes the amount, and date received). 4.9 If a gift/loan was passed on from an association, trust/foundation or body corporate please indicate by making the relevant selection. Skip this section if not applicable Enter the Prescribed Particulars in the text box (eg the names of the executive committee members/trustees/directors, as the case may be. Alternatively, you can provide the website URL where these names are listed). For more information about Prescribed Particulars, please refer to our Prescribed Particulars Guide. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 9

10 Attachment to Donor Return Foreign Donations 4.11 New regulations came into effect on 23 October 2017 which requires donors to provide additional information in Donor Returns. All donors are required to submit with their Donor Return an Attachment to Donor Return Foreign Donations form Please click on the Attachment to Donor Return Foreign Donations form hyperlink in the Attachments section of the Donor Return, to download the form. Complete the form and upload it to the Attachments section of the Donor Return. You can drag and drop documents into the Attachments box, or you can click Upload Files to browse for files. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 10

11 Incomplete Returns 4.13 If you consider it impossible to complete a return because you are unable to obtain particulars required for the return, then you must: a) complete as much of the return as possible, b) tick the check box I would like to submit this form incomplete at the bottom of the page, and c) complete the Notice of Inability to Complete Return If you have reasonable grounds to believe that another person (whose name and address you know), can provide the missing particulars then you must download the Template Schedule and provide the name and address of that person. To upload the completed Schedule to the portal, click the Attach Schedule button and browse for the document Note: the Notice of Inability to Complete Return and Schedule will be visible to the public. Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 11

12 Completing and submitting the return 4.16 To save your work-in-progress and complete the return later, click the Save Draft button. Your draft returns can be accessed in the Drafts side menu. Click the Actions drop-down and select Edit draft to continue data entry or to lodge the return To lodge the return, press the Submit button. A confirmation pop-up will appear. Click on Submit to confirm submission of the return. 5. General FAD Portal usage Returns menu 5.1 You can collapse and expand the Returns menu item by clicking on it. 5.2 Under the Gifts and Loans submenu, you will be able to see a summary of all gifts and loans you have disclosed. The orange UNREC icon indicates that the gift or loan does not match up with any corresponding recipient disclosure (unreconciled). If the recipient has lodged a matching disclosure, the status should be a green REC icon (reconciled). Help Centre 5.3 You can collapse and expand the Help Centre menu item by clicking on it. 5.4 The Support and FAQ submenu items provides users with detailed instructions on how to use the portal. Enquiries to: Funding, Disclosure & Registration Branch Electoral Commission SA Telephone GPO Box 646 Fax Adelaide SA ecsa.fad@sa.gov.au Funding and Disclosure Guide - Donors FDG03-v1 12