STOP PRESS – Charitable status and income tax exemption

We have all expected these reviews to commence once government announced the alternative settings for the Community Housing Entity form of tax exemption. Information on the CHE provisions can be found here.

As this issue moves forward, CHA is commissioning sector-wide advice from Deloitte’s to assist us all with the details. Attached is a memo that sets out the current state of play and the legislation being amended. The decisions have been made and CHAs focus is now on how we can best provide the information and advice for the sector to make informed decisions.

Discussions with Charities Services Director, Lesa Kalapu, indicates that reviews have been conducted on 150 organisations on the Charities Register that have indicated housing is part of the services they provide, based on publicly available information. These initial reviews led them to identify approximately 50 of the 150 organisations where further information is sought to determine if the organisation has activities that will not be able to continue as charitable activities. If that is the case then the organisation will be able to consider the new ‘community housing entity’ (CHE) form of tax exemption. The other group of approximately 100 organisations, where further information is not being requested, will also receive a letter and be able to confirm that no further investigation is being conducted.

The 23 July letters, from Charities Services, include a fact sheet that looks at the scope of the review and when community housing can be considered to be charitable under the Charities Act. Go here for the Deloitte memo and Charities Services fact sheet.