Last days to register with Charities Commission to retain tax-exempt status
Charities Commission,
If you have not yet applied to register your organisation with the Charities Commission, remember that there are now only a few days until tax laws change.
It’s important to get your application in now, before the 1 July 2008 deadline. Applying now means that you are more likely to avoid any uncertainties about your ongoing charitable-purpose tax exemptions after 1 July.
Are there circumstances beyond your control that prevent you from applying before the 1 July deadline?
Charities that have not applied to be registered by 1 July 2008, but who can prove to Inland Revenue they began preparing an application before that date may be able to maintain their exemptions from income tax, estate and gift duty for any unregistered period.
Legislation in the May Budget preserves the income tax-exempt status of organisations currently exempt as a charity that can show that they have started to take reasonable steps in the process of preparing an application for registration before 1 July 2008, and that intend to complete the registration process.
The measure is to provide greater tax certainty to organisations that run into difficulty in preparing their applications, owing to circumstances that may be beyond their control. It will not cover organisations that merely have not got round to applying for registration before the deadline.
Further details about the IRD guidelines about the tax position for charities that have not completed the process of registering with the Charities Commission by 1 July can be found at: www.ird.govt.nz/charitable-organisations/chart-orgs-admin-guidelines-registering.html
For more information on Charities Commission registration, go to: www.charities.govt.nz/guidance/registration_guidelines.htm