Eligible organisations
Eligibility for a refund of franking credits is worked out annually at the end of each income year. To be eligible for a refund of franking credits, your organisation must meet certain eligibility and residency requirements.
Provided certain criteria are met, your organisation must be any of the following:
- a registered charity endorsed by us as exempt from income tax
- an income tax exempt deductible gift recipient endorsed by us in its own right
- an income tax exempt deductible gift recipient listed by name in the tax law
- an income tax exempt relief fund declared by the Treasurer to be a developing country relief fund
- a prescribed income tax exempt institution that is eligible for a refund under the regulations
- an income tax exempt institution eligible for a refund under an Australian Government law other than the income tax law.
Endorsed charities
To be eligible for a refund of franking credits, a charity must meet all of the following requirements:
- satisfy the residency requirement
- be a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and endorsed by us as exempt from income tax.
Deductible gift recipients
To be eligible for a refund of franking credits, an endorsed income tax exempt deductible gift recipient (DGR) must meet all the following:
- satisfy the residency requirement
- be endorsed by us as a DGR in its own right
- be exempt from income tax.
A DGR must be endorsed in its own right. It is not sufficient if your DGR is only endorsed in relation to a fund, authority or institution that it operates, such as a school building fund.
To be eligible for a refund of franking credits, an income tax exempt DGR listed by name must meet all the following:
- have an ABN
- satisfy the residency requirement
- be a DGR listed by name in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
- be exempt from income tax.
Developing country relief funds
An entity is eligible if it is an income tax exempt relief fund declared by the Treasurer to be a developing country relief fund. It must not be prescribed by regulation as ineligible for the concession.
Residency requirements
Endorsed charities and DGRs will satisfy the residency requirement if, at all times during the relevant income year, it meets both of the following requirements:
- it has a physical presence in Australia
- to the extent that it has a physical presence in Australia, it incurs its expenditure and pursues its objectives principally in Australia.
Check if your organisation is eligible
You can check if your organisation is eligible, using the ABN Lookup websiteExternal Link. You can search for an organisation by its ABN, Australian company number (ACN) or name.
The Current details screen for an organisation includes the following sections:
- Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) – this shows if the organisation is registered with the ACNC
- Charity tax concession status – this shows if the organisation is endorsed to access tax concessions.
- Deductible gift recipient status – this shows if the organisation is a DGR and if it is
- endorsed as a DGR in its own right – the section will state the organisation ‘is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient’
- endorsed as a DGR only in relation to a fund, authority or institution it operates – the section will state the organisation ‘operates the following funds, authorities or institutions’
- a DGR listed by name in the tax law (and the organisation has an ABN) – the section will state the organisation ‘is listed by name as a Deductible Gift Recipient’.
Your Australian business number
If your organisation is an endorsed income tax exempt charity or DGR, you have been given an ABN as a part of the endorsement process.
If you're an income tax exempt DGR listed by name in the tax legislation, you need to register for an ABN before applying for a refund of franking credits.
You need to complete the ABN field on the application for refund of franking credits.
Your tax file number
You need to complete the TFN field on the application for refund of franking credits.