Ireland

Ireland

At present, charities are the sole recognised non-profit organisation unrestricted to specific activity (there are separate special exemptions for community organisations and certain sporting bodies).  Charities in Ireland must fall under four main 'heads' of charitable purpose which the Office of the Revenue Commissioners uses to decide whether or not to allow tax exemption. These are the same categories that trace their lineage to Elizabeth I's 1601 statute (in England), applied to Ireland in 1634 (education, religion, relief of poverty and public benefit).   An expanded set of purposes has been enacted in the Charities Act 2009, however at the time of writing the relevant statutory provisions have yet to be commenced.  While the current lack of charity registration and regulation means that new charities possess few obligations - except the usual requirements when applying for charitable recognition to the Revenue authorities for tax exemption purposes - this will alter drastically with the creation of the proposed new supervisory authority, the Charities Regulatory Authority.

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