Purpose
This guide is designed to assist financial officers, tax professionals and individuals otherwise involved in the administration of a taxable not-for-profit organisation to complete the Company tax return 2026.
For examples of the types of organisations covered by this guide, see Taxable NFP organisations.
Not-for-profit
The terms 'not-for-profit' and 'non-profit' are referred to interchangeably as 'NFP' in this guide.
The basic premise of an NFP organisation is that it's not operating for the profit or gain of its individual members, whether these gains are direct or indirect. This applies while the organisation is operating and when it winds up.
Any profit made by the organisation goes back into the operation of the organisation to carry out its purposes. It's not distributed to any members.
We accept an organisation as NFP where its constituent or governing documents prevent it from distributing profits or assets for the benefit of particular people. These documents should contain acceptable clauses showing the organisation's NFP character. The organisation’s actions must be consistent with this requirement.
For further information, see NFP governing documents.
Taxable
NFP organisations can be either exempt or taxable. Many NFP organisations are taxable and may need to lodge income tax returns and pay income tax.
Put simply, if your NFP organisation is not exempt from income tax, it's taxable. Only certain types of NFP organisations are exempt from income tax.
To find out if your NFP organisation is exempt or taxable, see Does your not-for-profit need to pay income tax?
Non-charitable NFPs with an active Australian business number (ABN) need to lodge an NFP self-review return each year to confirm their eligibility to self-assess as income tax exempt.
After submitting the NFP self-review return, the organisation will receive a self-assessment outcome of either income tax exempt or taxable.
If your organisation's self-assessment outcome is taxable, it may need to lodge a company tax return.
For more information, see the NFP self-review return reporting requirement.
Organisations not covered in this guide
This guide does not cover:
- credit unions
- friendly societies
- life assurance companies
- life insurance companies
- mutual insurance companies
- partnerships
- strata-title bodies corporate
- trusts.