Charity registration revamp

The interactive online Charity Registration Check is designed to:

• help organisations to assess their eligibility to be registered as a charity
• assist those already registered to check their ongoing entitlement.

ACNC commissioner Sue Woodward said the new tool would help prospective charity applicants navigate the registration process.

“It provides tailored guidance and outlines necessary steps to identify potential issues before submitting a formal application to the ACNC,” she said.

The initiative comes as the regulator has been forced to manage a surge in registration applications from charities ahead of controversial reporting changes introduced by the Australian Tax Office.

From July 1, more than 150,000 non-charitable NFPs that self-assess as income tax exempt must comply with the strict new reporting regulations.

The ATO last year flagged changes requiring NFPs that have an ABN and are not registered with the ACNC to complete an annual self-review to assess their income tax exemption.

During a recent Senate Estimates hearing in Canberra, Ms Woodward indicated the ATO changes had prompted a sharp rise in the number of organisations applying for charity registration.

More than 1,115 organisations applied to be registered as charities in May, up from 651 during the same month last year.

“If you are a registered charity, you don’t have to do that [ATO] reporting,” said Ms Woodward.

“Correspondingly, people are now realising that they are eligible to be a charity and are therefore now applying.”

The ATO recently extended the deadline for lodging a self-review return by five months to March, 31, 2025.

According to the ACNC website, the new charity registration tool asks specific questions about an organisation’s circumstances and provides tailored responses.

Based on these responses, it then outlines the next steps that need to be taken, helping users understand the charity registration criteria and the information they need to provide to make a successful registration application, or to maintain eligibility to be registered.

New applicants can use the tool to identify potential issues before submitting a formal registration application to the regulator.

Registered charities can use it to check they are continuing to meet all requirements to maintain their registration, such as keeping Responsible Persons' names up to date if there has been a new board appointment.

The ACNC said charities may also be asked to use the new tool to self-assess ongoing entitlement when the regulator conducts annual reviews of deductible gift recipient (DGR) eligibility.