Information on charitable status in Northern Ireland can be found at the website of HM Revenue and Customs site at www.hmrc.gov.uk or by calling the HMRC Charities Helpline on +44 (0)845 302 0203.
The following information applies to the Republic of Ireland only.
New regulations were passed though the Dáil in 2009 that will change the legal requirements for charities. The regulations will be implemented in stages over the coming years. Organisations already benefiting from charitable statues will automatically be added to the new Charities Register.
Please note! As of January 2012, Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence said at a conference in Dublin: “Realistically, I simply cannot see that we are in a position to fully implement the Charities Act on a statutory basis at the moment”.
Complete interpretations of the act are not available as yet. Here are some current resources:
The Charities Act 2009 is available here.
A short guide to the Charities Act 2009 from Mason Hayes+Curran Solicitors is available here.
The Wheel‘s fact-sheet on the Charities Act 2009 is available here.
Presently, companies seeking tax exempt charitable status are required to be companies registered by guarantee with certain provisions in the Memorandum and Articles of Association (it may be that companies limited by shares can also be charities if the shares are held by other charities). The Revenue Commissioners provide a Standardised Memorandum And Articles Of Association which can be used by companies wishing to apply for such status. Please note, the new regulations will change the requirements so not all the restrictions of these documents will apply. Download the standardised documents here.