Submission to Treasury on tax laws amendment 2009 measures no 4 Prescribed private funds

PPFs are a form of ancillary trust fund designed to encourage private philanthropy by providing private groups, such as businesses, families and individuals with greater flexibility to start their own trust funds for philanthropic purposes. AICD is concerned that provisions in the Exposure Draft will not meet the policy objective of encouraging the start-up or maintenance of PPFs because they fail to observe some fundamental tenets of company and human rights law. Firstly, the Exposure Draft fails to properly recognize the role of directors which is one of oversight, not management, in providing an exemption from an administrative penalty when directors do not take part in the management of a trustee when the conduct occurred. Secondly, it ignores the fundamental limited liability attribute of companies by imposing on directors of trustees joint and several liability for an administrative penalty. Thirdly, contrary to principled law, directors have a reverse onus of proof when making out a defence to the imposition of joint and several liability for an administrative penalty.