When you apply for your ABN you will be asked to identify your organisation’s entity and organisation type.
This page is for non-profit organisations applying for an Australian Business Number (ABN).
There are two key questions in the ABN application:
- What type of entity are you?
- What type of organisation are you?
In answering those questions, your responses should be:
- For taxation purposes which type of entity is the applicant? Non-profit organisations should select the option ‘Company, Partnership, Trust or other organisation’.
- What type of organisation is the applicant? You should select the option that is most suited to your organisation’s legal structure - likely to be a company, trust or corporate trustee.
See also
- Choosing a legal structure
- Information for charities on how to state their legal structure in governing documents - ACNC registration application guideExternal Link
Next steps
- Apply for an ABN electronicallyExternal Link
- Apply for an ABN on a paper form – phone 13 92 26
Companies
If you are a company or other organisation, you will need to choose one of the following:
- Australian private company – If the applicant is a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 as a proprietary company.
- Australian public company – If the applicant is a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 as a Company limited by guarantee.
- Other Incorporated entity – If the applicant has been incorporated under the state and territory associations’ incorporation legislation in which it operates or, is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation incorporated under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act.
- Other unincorporated entity – If the applicant operates under a set of rules and has not registered its governing rules with either State or Commonwealth regulators.
- Cooperative – If the applicant has been established as a cooperative.
Trusts
A trust will be issued with only one ABN, irrespective of the number of trustees. The ABN of the trust will not change if the trustees change.
When a company or other incorporated entity, acting in its capacity as trustee of a trust, applies for an ABN, it should indicate it is a trust and select the appropriate type of trust.
Common types of trusts
If a charity is not incorporated, it could be a trust (for example, ‘JKF Fund’, or ‘JKF Foundation’).
You will need to choose one of the following:
- Discretionary trust (trading) – A trustee can determine the distribution of income or capital of the trust to the beneficiaries; and the main source of income of the trust is from trading activities, such as the sale of goods or services.
- Discretionary trust (investment) – A trustee can determine the distribution of income or capital of the trust to the beneficiaries; and the main source of income of the trust is from investment activity.
- Discretionary trust (services management) – A trustee can determine the distribution of income or capital of the trust to the beneficiaries; and the main source of income of the trust is from service and/or management activity, for example administration services.
- Fixed trust – A trust has fixed entitlements to all of the trust’s income and capital at all times during the financial year. That is, the trustee is bound to make a distribution to the beneficiaries in a fixed or predetermined manner, as set out in the trust deed.
- Hybrid trust – A trust has fixed entitlements to part of the trust’s income or capital during the financial year. That is, the trustee may have some discretion to distribute some part of the income or capital, while entitlement to some part of the income and/or capital is fixed under the trust deed.
Corporate trustees
A company is entitled to an ABN in its own right. Separately, if the company is also a corporate trustee, as an 'other Incorporated entity', it is entitled to its own ABN if it is carrying on as an enterprise in its own right.
When applying for an ABN, the company or 'other incorporated entity' should select the option that is most suited to the organisation’s legal structure and the capacity in which it is applying.
Example: trust ABN
When ABC Company applies for an ABN in its capacity as trustee of XYZ Trust, it should indicate the applicant (XYZ Trust) is a trust and select the appropriate type of trust. It should not select a company entity type as the applicant is the trust.
Example: company ABN
When ABC Company applies for an ABN for itself (and not in the capacity of a corporate trustee), it should indicate the applicant (ABC Company) is a company and select the appropriate type of company.
End of example