South Africa - Obtain Approval as Public Benefit Organisation

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. To apply for obtaining approval as a Public Benefit Organization in person, the applicant has to visit the nearest South African Revenue Services branch office in his/her province.
2. Links for the address and contact details of SARS branch offices can be found in the following link: Link on the applicable branch name under your province name and get the details accordingly.
3. Visit the SARS branch and obtain an application form for obtaining approval as a Public Benefit Organization from the respective department.
4. Or click here to download: Link
5. Complete the form as required with relevant details under respective sections. Make sure that you have all the documents listed in the “Required documents” section of this page.
6. After completing the application form, attach all the documents required for the process with the completed form.
7. Then, proceed to submit the package to the relevant authority at the branch office for further processes. Make the payment as necessary.
8. After all the processes have got completed, the concerned authorities will proceed to make the arrangements for the approval process.
9. The applicant can obtain any information regarding the progress of his/her request, from the office where the application has been made.

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Required Documents

• Completed application form
• Relevant Written undertaking
• Founding Document
• Certified copy of an Identity proof of fiduciary responsible office bearers
• Certified copy of an Identity proof of Representative / Public Officer / Tax Practitioner
• Letter of appointment or MOM (for representatives)
• Bank statement or Account confirmation document/letter from bank
• Financial statements (for active organizations)
• Affidavit with bank statements (dormant organizations)
• Address proof for business location or Residential proof
• Other founding documents

For more clarifications, refer “What supporting documents do I need?” section in the following page: Link

Office Locations & Contacts

South African Revenue Service (SARS) - Head Office,
Lehae la Sars Building, 299 Bronkhorst Street,
New Muckleneuk, Brooklyn,
PRETORIA
Postal address: Private Bag X923
Pretoria,0001
Tel: (012) 422 4000
Call Centre: 0800 00 7277
Fax number: (012) 422 5180
Email: For Tax Practitioners: [email protected]
Email: For Taxpayers: [email protected]
Website: Contacts link

South African Revenue Service (SARS) Region Contacts Details
South African Revenue Service (SARS) Branches

Eligibility

• Any organization which has been incorporated or established in South Africa, as a non-profit company with an MOI as a founding document, can apply.
• Any organization with a trust deed or an associational constitution as a founding document can also apply.

Fees

Please approach the authorities for fees details.

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

• EI 1 Application form: Link
• El 2 - Written undertaking (only for public benefit organizations to ensure compliance with the Income Tax Act): Link
• EI 2 B – Written undertaking (only for foreign branches to ensure compliance with the Income Tax Act): Link
• EI 2 C - Written undertaking (only for recreational clubs to ensure compliance with the Income Tax Act): Link
• EI2A – Public Benefit Organization Written undertaking for professional bodies to ensure compliance with the Income Tax Act: Link
• EI 2D – Written undertaking for small businesses funding entities to ensure compliance with the Income Tax Act: Link

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

The entire process takes approximately 57 days to be completed.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>videoID|width|height<&/video&>
from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe,
myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• Before lodging the application, please refer to the following documents once: Link

• To see which documents are acceptable as proof of residential address, click: Link

• If you are already registered as a Non-Profit Company (NPC) with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), then you will automatically be registered with SARS for Income Tax purposes.

• Once you are registered with SARS, this does not mean that you have been approved for tax exemption. This will entail a further approval process. Also, even if exemption from income tax is granted, all PBOs must still complete an annual Income Tax Return on an IT12EI form.

Required Information

• Details of the organization
• Company registration number
• Trust registration number
• Postal address
• Account details
• Particulars of fiduciary responsible office bearers
• Particulars of Representative Taxpayer
• Registration number

Need for the Document

If you want your company to be approved as a public benefit organization (PBO) you must apply at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in a prescribed format as required by the South African Revenue Services.

Information which might help

• The written undertaking is a commitment made by the person accepting fiduciary responsibility for the funds and assets of the organization that, although the founding document does not include the requirements of the IT Act necessary to obtain PBO approval, the organization will be administered in compliance with these requirements.

• The founding document means the constitution, will or other written instrument in terms of which an organization is established and governed. The nature of the founding document depends on the type of organization that has been established.

• The exemption approval process takes approximately 57 working days from the day that all required information has been submitted. (Phase 1 – registration may take 21 working days. Phase 2 – evaluation for exemption process may take 36 working days).

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Link

Others

More information which might help people.