- Guide2 of 5
- The lawCorporations Act 2001, ss 601TDA to 601TDJ
- Checked10 October 2026
Commission on a charitable trust: the caps in Part 5D.3
Where a licensed trustee company is trustee or manager of a charitable trust and began that service on or after Division 4 commenced, the Act lets it charge either a capital commission of not more than 5.5% of the trust’s gross assets (once) plus an annual income commission of not more than 6.6% of its income, or instead an annual management fee of not more than 1.056% of its gross assets. Each figure is a ceiling, GST inclusive as the Act states it, as at 10 October 2026: a limit the law sets, not a usual or recommended rate, though Part 5D.3 does not prevent a trustee company charging fees a will directs or fees agreed under s 601TBB.
General information only. Dotto is not a financial adviser or a trustee company, and this guide is not financial or legal advice. The official text is Division 4 of Part 5D.3 on the Federal Register of Legislation, linked at the foot of this page.
Which trusts the caps reach
Division 4 splits charitable trusts by when the trustee company began acting. Subdivision A covers “new client” trusts: the service is being trustee or manager of a charitable trust, and it “started on or after the commencement of this section”. Subdivision B covers “existing client” trusts, where the service started before that commencement.
For a new client trust, s 601TDB(1) uses the words “must only charge”, and lists what may be charged, but s 601TDB(2) says the section “does not limit anything in Division 2”, and s 601TBB in Division 2 says the Part does not prevent fees a will directs or fees agreed under that section. What s 601TDB(1) lists:
- either a capital commission and an income commission under s 601TDC, or a management fee under s 601TDD; and
- if applicable, common fund administration fees under s 601TDE; and
- if applicable, fees permitted by s 601TDF for preparing returns.
The two options, side by side
| Charge | Ceiling | Measured on | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Option 1: capital commission (s 601TDC(1)) | not exceeding 5.5% | the gross value of the trust’s assets | only once while the company is trustee or manager |
| Option 1: income commission (s 601TDC(4)) | not exceeding 6.6% | the income received on account of the trust’s assets | annual |
| Option 2: management fee (s 601TDD(1)) | not exceeding 1.056% | the gross value of the trust’s assets | annual, instead of both Option 1 charges |
| Common fund administration fee (s 601TDE(1)) | not exceeding 1.1% | the gross value of the trust’s assets in a common fund the company operates | annual, if any assets are in the fund |
| Returns (s 601TDF) | a reasonable fee | work preparing and lodging returns for duties or taxes, other than probate, death, succession or estate duties | as the work is done |
Every percentage in the table follows the Act’s words “not exceeding”. The Act sets the most a company may charge, apart from fees a will directs or fees agreed under s 601TBB; it does not say what a company does charge, and nothing on this page is a price or a comparison.
Option 1: a one‑off capital commission and an annual income commission
Section 601TDC(1): “The trustee company may charge a capital commission (GST inclusive) at a rate not exceeding 5.5% of the gross value of the charitable trust’s assets.” Section 601TDC(2): “The capital commission must be charged only once during the period while the trustee company is trustee or manager of the charitable trust.”
Section 601TDC(4): “The trustee company may charge an annual income commission (GST inclusive) at a rate not exceeding 6.6% of the income received on account of the charitable trust’s assets.”
The section leaves the working detail to regulations. For the capital commission they may deal with how the commission or the gross value is calculated and when in the period it may be charged; for the income commission, with how it or the income is calculated, when in a year it may be charged, and how it is apportioned for part‑years.
Option 2: one annual management fee
Section 601TDD(1): “Instead of a capital commission and income commission under section 601TDC, the trustee company may charge an annual management fee (GST inclusive) at a rate not exceeding 1.056% of the gross value of the charitable trust’s assets.” Regulations may again deal with its calculation, its timing in a year and part‑years.
Unless ASIC approves otherwise under s 601TBE(4), the management fee “can only come out of the income of the relevant estate”.
A trust with money in a common fund
Section 601TDE(1): “If any of the charitable trust’s assets are included in a common fund operated by the trustee company, the trustee company may charge an annual common fund administration fee (GST inclusive) not exceeding 1.1% of the gross value of the charitable trust’s assets in the fund.”
That fee, too, is held to income unless ASIC approves: it “can only come out of the income received by the common fund on the assets of the charitable trust concerned that are included in the fund”.
Trusts the company already held
For an existing client trust the rule is a freeze, not a percentage. Section 601TDH: “Subject to section 601TDI and 601TDJ, the trustee company must not charge fees in excess of the fees than it could have charged in relation to the charitable trust immediately before the commencement of this section.”
The two exceptions mirror the new‑trust rules: s 601TDI allows an annual common fund administration fee not exceeding 1.1% of the gross value of the trust’s assets in the fund, and s 601TDJ allows a reasonable fee for preparing and lodging returns.
What a court can and cannot review
The court’s power in s 601TEA(1) to reduce excessive fees charged by a licensed trustee company “does not apply to fees … that relate to a charitable trust and that are charged as permitted by Subdivision A of Division 4”. So the review does not reach fees for a new client charitable trust charged as Subdivision A permits. Fees for an existing client trust are not named in that exception. How the review works for an estate is set out in the guide to what a trustee company may charge an estate, and how GST is treated when an agent acts for a seller is in the GST guide.