Certain charities may qualify for tax exempt status and obtain a CHY reference number from The Revenue Commissioners.
To qualify for tax exemption certain criteria stipulated by The Revenue Commissioners must be satisfied, the most crucial of which is the nature of the charitable activity. Full details of the revenue Commissioners process can be obtained from www.revenue.ie/en/business/charities.html
All charities with a CHY reference number issued by the Revenue Commissioners will automatically qualify for inclusion on the Register of Charities to be established under the provisions of the Charities Act 2009. However, the opposite is not true, many Irish charities will qualify for inclusion on the Register of Charities to be established under the provisions of The Charities Act 2009 by virtue of their charitable activity but will not satisfy the criteria of the Revenue Commissioners whose definition for tax exemption is narrower than the definition in the Charities Act 2009.
Tax exempt status can be extended to qualify a charity for the Revenue scheme of tax relief on donations to eligible charities under S848A TCA 1997, which can result in donors obtaining tax relief on donations or the charity obtaining tax refunds on donations made.