ASSIF speaks out at senate committee hearings on third sector reform

Italian fundraising association ASSIF has spoken out at Senate Committee hearings against proposed changes to the Third Sector Code.

At the Senate Committee (Constitutional Affairs) hearings in June, ASSIF welcomed many of the Committee’s proposed changes to the country’s Third Sector Code and also raised a number of concerns.

In a document presented at the hearings, ASSIF drew attention to proposed changes to tax rules, which it believes will negatively affect donation levels. The changes are due to take effect from 1 January 2018 and will make it less convenient for people who earn over €28,000 a year to donate.

Other issues raised by ASSIF included proposed changes to the time limits allowed for using legacy assets, and the proposal to allow organisations to pay volunteers up to 150 euros a month without supporting documents. ASSIF believes this could cause issues both for volunteers and donors particularly in how to explain to donors that their money may go towards paying volunteers.

ASSIF also drew attention to the number of changes necessitated by the reforms as well as the multiple implementation dates, which it says will be difficult for third sector organisations, which are often run by volunteers, to manage.

ASSIF had previously petitioned the Committee to extend the implementation date of the reformed Code to enable these and other issues with the proposed changes to be addressed. The extension was not granted, and ASSIF is now calling on the Senate to ask the government to change the text before the reformed Code is introduced.