Editing Universal Medicine (section)

=== The Taxation Office and the College of UM ===
The [[Australian Taxation Office]] (ATO) investigated and took action against the College of Universal Medicine, after almost $600,000 in charitable donations had been collected for its "school building fund" between 2011 and 2015.<ref name=":47"/> College director Charles Wilson had initially rejected any suggestion of impropriety.<ref name="ABCWilson"/> The ATO found the "not for profit" college located in NSW was "not operating a school" because its courses did not qualify as "knowledge-based teaching" for tax purposes.<ref name=":47">{{Cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-14/universal-medicine-cult-received-donations/11482874 |title=Prominent donors gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to 'exploitative cult' |last=Robertson |first=Josh |date=14 September 2019 |work=ABC News |publisher=abc.net.au}}</ref><ref name="coum_board">{{Cite web |url=https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/6ce43807ef50e5e341436ef78f5aa9ff#people |title=College Of Universal Medicine |last=Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission |date=2 January 2019}}</ref> The College was retrospectively stripped of its deductible gift recipient (DGR) status and returned $563,282 back to donors in October 2015.

In reaching its decision the ATO also noted conflicts of interest where the College's fundraising to renovate the building, owned by Serge Benhayon, was a "potential capital benefit" to the owner in earning $80,000 a year in rent from it. It also found most donations to the building fund were not maintained separately to the College's other moneys, meaning "the safeguard of public money is threatened" and the cash could be potentially used "for other purposes".<ref name=":47" />