Deductible Gift Recipients (DGR):

If you are a sporting club, you can apply to the Commissioner of Taxation to be classed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). Generally, this will require you to give the Commissioner information about your sporting club and the reasons why you want your sporting club to have DGR status. At Navado, our tax and sport lawyers can work together to help your sporting club with the application for endorsement as a DGR. 

Where your sporting club is a charity, your club may fall within the class of another exempt entity. If you wish to gain an income tax exemption by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), your sporting club will need to be endorsed by the ATO as income tax exempt. Broadly speaking, for your sporting club to be viewed as a charity, the club would need to have been established and be operated for the purpose or purposes that are defined as being charitable by law. A charitable purpose may take many forms. For example, a charitable purpose could be:

• The advancement of education;
• The advancement of religion;
• The relief of poverty, sickness or the needs of the aged;
• The provision of child care services on a not-for-profit basis; or
• Other purposes that are beneficial to the community.

Generally, sporting clubs who wish to be classed as a charity and therefore receive some form of income tax exemption, provide some purpose that would be beneficial to the community. However, a large percentage of sporting clubs are not listed as charities.  Some examples of sporting clubs that are charities can include: 

• A sporting club that is part of a school or university and furthers the educational aims of the school;
• A sporting club that uses the sport to help rehabilitate the sick; or
• A sporting club that uses the sport to help relieve or provide support for people with a disability.