PN proposes cutting red tape for voluntary organisations

A new Nationalist government would cut bureaucracy and paperwork for voluntary organisations and exempt them from paying VAT on specific projects, party MPs said on Monday.

PN MP Kevin Cutajar explained how the party would seek to reduce and simplify the red tape and excess paperwork, sometimes even duplicated, that voluntary organisations have to endure so that they could focus on their core mission rather than these administrative processes.

He also suggested creating a centralised portal where voluntary organisations can file all their documentation and annual returns.

More incentives will also be given to promote self-regulation while the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations will be given more staff to become a regulator rather than a watchdog, he said. 

A single register of voluntary organisations that the PN is proposing would make it easier for such organisations to open bank accounts, he said, by offering banks peace of mind that the organisation is in order and in line with regulations.

He also said that a PN government would make it easier for government buildings to be made available to voluntary organisations and undertake a stocktake to see what buildings could...