When is a Charity not a Charity?

brrabus · 20-01-2014 2:55am #1

Just wondering, can someone call themselves a Charity if they have not gained Charitable Statue by the Revenue Commissioner.

We are all aware of the bogus Charity Collectors who post stickers through your letterboxes saying that they are collecting clothes for charities and even give a charity number. When checking the number it turns out that these are not legit. But just wondering, if you have not gained Charitable Statue by the Revenue Commissioners, can you call yourself a charity (no charity number given), even if you are doing it on a non profit basis but have not got Charitable Status from the Revenue. Or is it illegal to call yourself a Charity?

goz83 · 20-01-2014 3:09am

When the money doesn't go to the people it's supposed to go to.

brrabus · 20-01-2014 3:12am

goz83 wrote: »

When the money doesn't go to the people it's supposed to go to.

But how do you know that the money is not going to who they are deeming the charity for. I would have thought, as it is in many countries, that you cannot call yourself a Charity unless you are deemed a Charity by the appropriate Revenue body. So can you call yourself a Charity in this country even if you have not gained Charitable Statue from the Revenue Commissioner.

goz83 · 20-01-2014 3:18am

brrabus wrote: »

But how do you know that the money is not going to who they are deeming the charity for. I would have thought, as it is in many countries, that you cannot call yourself a Charity unless you are deemed a Charity by the appropriate Revenue body. So can you call yourself a Charity in this country even if you have not gained Charitable Statue from the Revenue Commissioner.

You asked the wrong question in your OP then. What you're asking, it would seem, is "How does one know that a charity is actually being a charity?"

Well, you don't. There is corruption everywhere. My first answer stands for the original question.

Also, charitable status means nothing. There is still corruption. I stopped giving to the CRC because of the recent scandal. In fact, I stopped giving to all charities, because I just don't trust them.

brrabus · 20-01-2014 3:24am

goz83 wrote: »

You asked the wrong question in your OP then. What you're asking, it would seem, is "How does one know that a charity is actually being a charity?"

Well, you don't. There is corruption everywhere. My first answer stands for the original question.

Also, charitable status means nothing. There is still corruption. I stopped giving to the CRC because of the recent scandal. In fact, I stopped giving to all charities, because I just don't trust them.

But you can check if a Charity is a legitimate Charity as deemed a Charity and being granted Charitable Statue by the Revenue, this information is available to all of us. My question is, can someone who has not been granted "Charitable Status" use the word Charity when promoting their orginasition? The issues regarding CRC are totally separate to this question. I am not questioning the issues in recent media regarding CRC or Rehab, or any such the like, I am just asking can the word "Charity" be used if you are not a registered Charity with the Revenue Commissioners.

brightspark · 20-01-2014 9:16am

Maybe you could read this,

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/pdf/2009/en.act.2009.0006.pdf

Or check here,

http://www.ictr.ie

keithclancy · 20-01-2014 9:21am

brightspark wrote: »

Maybe you could read this,

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/pdf/2009/en.act.2009.0006.pdf

Or check here,

http://www.ictr.ie

So its like SIMI for the Charity 'industry'

thesandeman · 20-01-2014 10:36am

One of our local charities had it's collection boxes confiscated and anything collected given to another charity as it hadn't yet received charitable status.
So I presume your answer is no.

dudara · 20-01-2014 10:43am

Big FAQ from the Revenue on charities here, but no definite answer to your question.

How do I register as a charity?

There is no legal framework for the registration of charities in Ireland. The Office of the Revenue Commissioners, Charities Section maintains a database of organisations to which they have granted charitable tax exemption. In granting tax exemption Charities Section give the body a CHY reference number. The full list of bodies granted exemption is published on the Revenue Commissioners website.

goz83 · 20-01-2014 4:48pm

thesandeman wrote: »

One of our local charities had it's collection boxes confiscated and anything collected given to another charity as it hadn't yet received charitable status.
So I presume your answer is no.

Confiscated by who? The Amish Mafia?