Charitable Trust documents
A Sample Charitable Trust Deed and Guide to its Clauses (reviewed by Inland Revenue) and a sample Statutory Declaration are offered here for use in setting up a Charitable Trust.
A charitable trust is an agreement between people (called trustees) to manage property, over which they have control, for charitable purposes.
The broad details of how a charitable trust will operate are set out in its trust deed. Existing charitable trusts can apply to be incorporated as a board under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957. New groups with charitable purposes can also apply for incorporation.
The sample charitable trust documents outlined in the deed meet all the requirements for incorporation. If you wish to use the sample as the basis for your trust deed it is important to carefully go through it to make sure that it will meet your needs.
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The statutory declaration states: whether any Trustees hold any property as trustees for other trusts; that at a meeting of the Trust a resolution was passed approving incorporation; and that the person making the Declaration has been approved by the Trustees to make it.
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Note about Charitable Trusts: As of 1 July 2008, a charitable organisation needs to be registered by the Charities Commission to enjoy tax exemptions. The Charities Act 2005 provided for the establishment of the Charities Commission and they now oversee registration of Charities.
For information on the registration process with the Charities Commision visit: http://www.charities.govt.nz/Settingupacharity/RegistrationGuidelines/tabid/102/Default.aspx . This section outlines the registration guidelines and how to register etc.
For a quick overview of whether an organisation should apply to register as a charity and what happens after it has applied, visit: http://www.charities.govt.nz/Settingupacharity/GettingStarted/tabid/203/Default.aspx .
Once a charitable organisation has been approved by the Commission, Inland Revenue will then confirm whether the organisation is exempt from income tax and gift duty and in some instances they may need to apply separately to Inland Revenue for donee status (in order that donors may be able to claim a donations rebate on gifts made to them). As the registration process of the Charities Commission meets most of the requirements for tax exemption, it is no longer necessary for Inland Revenue to review a charitable organisation's founding documents.
For more information on charitable organisations visit: http://www.ird.govt.nz/charitable-organisations . This page addresses income tax, tax rates and exemptions, and the registration of charities.
Also, for a list of donee organisations already approved by IRD visit: http://www.ird.govt.nz/donee-organisations/ .