What is a health promotion charity (HPC)?
A health promotion charity (HPC) is a type of charity whose principal activity is promoting the prevention or control of diseases in human beings. This may include providing public information about a disease, research to develop cures or treatments, or providing equipment to help people who are suffering from the disease.
Examples of HPCs include: some community health care providers, medical research organisations and organisations that seek to prevent human diseases by raising public awareness of such diseases.
Who determines HPC status?
From 3 December 2012
From 3 December 2012, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is responsible for determining HPC status. The ACNC registers organisations as charities, including particular types of charities such as HPCs. The ATO accepts that an organisation is an HPC if it is registered by the ACNC as an HPC.
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For guidance on what an HPC is and how to apply for registration as an HPC, refer to the ACNC website at www.acnc.gov.au
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Before 3 December 2012
Before 3 December 2012, the ATO determined whether an organisation was an HPC for the purpose of determining entitlement to endorsement to access charity tax concessions and deductible gift recipient status.
You can access archived ATO guidance on what an HPC is in the following documents:
Tax concessions and endorsement requirements
HPCs must be endorsed by the ATO to access the following tax concessions:
- charity tax concessions:
- income tax exemption
- goods and services tax (GST) charity concessions
- fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption
- deductible gift recipient status.
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From 3 December 2012, HPCs must be registered by the ACNC before we can endorse them to access the above concessions.
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If an HPC is endorsed by us for income tax exemption, it will be entitled to a refund of franking credits on dividends it receives.
HPCs can self-assess their entitlement to GST concessions for non-profit organisations.
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For more information on the tax concessions available to HPCs refer to Tax concessions - an overview in our publication Tax basics for non-profit organisations.
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Last Modified: Tuesday, 4 December 2012