Proving eligibility for discounts offered to non-profit organisations by suppliers

Suppliers of goods or services who offer discounts to non-profit community organisations often ask them to provide information to support their claim to the discount. A statement from the Tax Office is sometimes listed by the suppliers as the type of information useful to prove a claim. This may result in unnecessary contact with us as most clubs, societies and associations can self-assess their income tax status and do not receive confirmation of their status from us.

This document explains the notices of endorsement we issue to non-profit organisations and the types of organisations that receive them. The types of non-profit organisations that are not required to be endorsed are also discussed.

What notices of endorsement do we issue to non-profit organisations?

Under the income tax law, certain non-profit organisations may receive the following written notices from us:

endorsement as a tax concession charity (TCC) or income tax exempt fund (ITEF)
endorsement as a deductible gift recipient (DGR).

What is a notice of endorsement as a TCC or ITEF?

There is an endorsement process for charities and non-charitable funds under which they apply to the Tax Office to be exempt from income tax.

Charities also need to be endorsed if they want to access charity tax concessions under the goods and services (GST) and fringe benefits tax (FBT) laws.

An organisation that has been endorsed as a TCC or ITEF receives a written notice of its endorsement from us. Details on the endorsement notice include:

the organisation’s name
its Australian business number
the organisation's entity type:

charitable fund
charitable institution
public benevolent institution
health promotion charity, or
income tax exempt fund

the tax concessions the organisation has been endorsed to access:

income tax exemption
GST charity concessions, and/or
FBT rebate or FBT exemption

the date of effect for each endorsement.

The above information is publicly available on the Australian Business Register website at www.abn.business.gov.au

Charities include most non-profit religious institutions, educational institutions, aged persons homes, homeless hostels, organisations relieving the special needs of people with disabilities and societies that promote the fine arts. Other examples of charities can be found in Is your organisation a charity?

An ITEF is a non-charitable fund established by will or instrument of trust. The beneficiaries of ITEFs can include DGRs that are charities and DGRs that are not charities. For more information, see The endorsement process for income tax exempt funds.

What non-profit organisations do not receive a notice of endorsement as a TCC or ITEF?

Clubs, societies and associations that can self-assess their entitlement to tax concessions (such as exemption from paying income tax) do not receive a notice of endorsement as a TCC or ITEF.

Non-profit organisations that can self-assess their income tax status – as income tax exempt or as a non-profit company - are not required to obtain confirmation of their income tax status from us.

Examples of organisations that can self-assess their income tax status include social clubs, ethnic cultural associations, cinema clubs, friendship clubs, wine societies, fan clubs, rowing clubs, football clubs, dancing clubs, athletic clubs, model train societies, boating and fishing clubs, boxing clubs, golf clubs, car clubs, motor racing clubs, most business and professional associations, and community service organisations such as Apex, Lions etc.

Where can I find more information on self-assessing income tax status?

The following publications contain more information about self-assessing the income tax status of non-profit organisations:

Does your organisation have to pay income tax? (NAT 7194)
Income tax guide for non-profit organisations (NAT 7967).

For more help in working out an organisation's income tax status, you can contact us on 1300 130 248.

What is a notice of endorsement as a DGR?

Organisations that wish to receive income tax deductible gifts (except those listed by name in the income tax law) must be endorsed by the Tax Office as deductible gift recipients (DGRs).

An organisation that is endorsed by us as a DGR will receive a written notice of its endorsement from us. Details on the DGR endorsement notice include:

the DGR’s name
its Australian business number
the name of the fund, authority or institution operated by the DGR to which the endorsement relates (if applicable)
the endorsement date of effect
the relevant DGR category and item number in the income tax law.

The fact that an organisation has been endorsed as a DGR, together with the date or period of effect of endorsement, is publicly available on the Australian Business Register website at www.abn.business.gov.au

Examples of DGR categories include public benevolent institutions, public universities, public hospitals, school building funds, public libraries and funds on the register of cultural organisations or register of environmental organisations.

If my organisation does not receive an endorsement notice, what other documents might prove its status to a supplier?

Other indicators of your organisation’s non-profit status or particular community purposes are your organisation's:

constitution or governing rules
trust deed (if it is a trust)
registration or association with other regulatory bodies that require non-profit status and/or the particular community purpose for registration.

This list is provided to help organisations that do not receive endorsement notices. As it is the supplier who is offering the discount, the supplier will ultimately decide how it applies its discount policy.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, 20 October 2009

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