Endorsement is the approval process some non-profit organisations must follow if they want to access tax concessions.
There are three main types of organisations that must be endorsed: charities, income tax exempt (non-charitable) funds, and deductible gift recipients. A deductible gift recipient is an organisation that can receive income tax deductible gifts and tax deductible contributions.
Charitable institutions and charitable funds need to be endorsed to receive charities concessions for income tax, GST or fringe benefits tax, while non-charitable funds can apply for endorsement as income tax exempt funds.
If your non-profit organisation wants to receive income tax deductible gifts or contributions, and it is not named as a deductible gift recipient in the income tax law, it needs to be endorsed to access tax concessions for deductible gift recipients.
If your non-profit organisation doesn’t fit into any of the above categories, you can self-assess whether it’s entitled to concessions. Certain types of clubs, societies and associations can access one or more of the following tax concessions: income tax exemption, GST tax concessions and FBT rebate.
For more information, refer to Tax concessions – an overview in our publication Tax basics for non-profit organisations (NAT 7966).
Once an organisation is endorsed, its endorsement details are recorded on the Australian Business Register. This information is publicly available on the register website at www.abn.business.gov.au
For organisations that need to be endorsed, it’s important to remember that endorsement is not permanent – it needs to be regularly reviewed. Organisations must notify the Tax Office if they’re no longer entitled to be endorsed.
For a complete list of documents and services related to this topic, refer to Endorsement essentials.
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