ANBI-status

Benefits and conditions

Does your organization have an ANBI-status or do you want to apply for a Dutch ANBI-status for the institution you are working for? This article will explain what fiscal benefits an ANBI can be entitled to and what conditions you will need to meet to apply for an ANBI-status.

Benefits

Obtaining an ANBI-status can be very appealing for organizations with an ideological mission like associations or foundations and their donors, because the status makes tax benefits possible:

An ANBI does not pay donation tax over donations that are used for general interest. The maximum amount of the exemption for donation tax in 2021 is € 3.244.
An ANBI does not pay inheritance tax over inheritances that are used as contributions to the mission of the organization. The maximum amount of the exemption in inheritance tax is € 2.244.
An ANBI can be entitled to a return of the energy tax.
The work done by volunteers for an institution with an ANBI-status can be seen as a gift under certain conditions for the tax assessment.
Donors that make donations to an ANBI can - if the donation is recorded - deduct that donation in their assessment income- or partnership tax.

When you want to make a donation to an ANBI, you can see in the ANBI program if that institution has an ANBI status.

Conditions

To be eligible for an ANBI-status and aforementioned benefits, your organization must meet the following conditions.

The 90% requirement demands that the activities of the institution must, for at least 90% serve the general interest.
The organization does not have a profit motive.
The organization and those immediately involved meet the so-called integrity demand (this has been tightened as of January 1, 2021, see text in box below).
A natural person or legal entity cannot manage the capital as if it is their own capital.
Managers or policy makers cannot have a majority in the control of the capital nor can they have a decisive vote or veto in the control of the capital.
The publication requirement demands that the ANBI publishes specific information online (sharpened rules as of January 1, 2021, see box below).
The ANBI’s capital must be limited to what can reasonably be considered necessary for activities of the organization.
There is an actual policy plan.
The reward of the policy makers cannot be bigger than the expense compensation or (minimal) allowance. It is recommended to include the conditions or specifically how the conditions are met in the articles of the organization. When an ANBI no longer meets (one of) the conditions the status can be revoked.

Apply for ANBI-status

When an institution (possibly) meets the aforementioned requirements, you can apply for an ANBI-status. You can do this by filling out and mailing the application ANBI-disposal.

After your application, the organization will be:

Approved for the ANBI-status: You can (from the start of the approval on) make use of the tax benefits
Rejected for the ANBI-status: you can object to this rejection.

When applying for the ANBI-disposal, you may make use of the following regulations:

In some cases an organization may be granted an ANBI-status retroactively
When the organization has a minimum of 90% cultural activities, you may be eligible for the cultural ANBI-status. Private donors can multiply their donation by 1.25 for their tax assessment and enterprises in the partnership tax with 1.5. Donors therefore can deduct a higher amount than their actual donation.
It is possible to include several organizations in a group disposal. Also when one of the organizations in the group disposal no longer meets the requirements, the other organizations keep their ANBI-status.
Organizations that do have social value, but do not serve the general interest, can be eligible for tax benefits via the SBBI-arrangement*. This arrangement applies to organizations that firstly look after its members or a small group. Organizations like sport clubs, choirs, youth groups, guilds or children’s farms are SBBI’s (social interest groups)

Keep ANBI-status

To keep an ANBI-status, an organization must continue to meet the criteria mentioned above. Additionally there are various supplemental obligations when managing an ANBI. The ANBI must:

Have its administration in order and should be made available on request.
Communicate changes in regards to the ANBI in time. Do the changes affect the ANBI-disposal? Report this at the ANBI Expert Center*.

The ANBI Expert center supervises the compliance of the obligations and that the ANBI conditions are met. Unlawful use of the tax benefits of the ANBI’s will need to be paid back retroactively and a fine might also be imposed.

Lose or cancel ANBI-status

An ANBI will, of course, lose its status when the organization no longer meets the requirements. As mentioned above, the ANBI expert center checks this and misuse is penalized.

ANBI’s are also obligated to notify when the designation should be canceled. This can be the case for dissolution, mergers or changing the mission and therefore no longer meeting the requirements. Canceling the ANBI-status can be arranged in writing by sending a letter to the ANBI Expert Center.

Was an ANBI designation canceled in 2013 or later and did the organization have a capital of €25.000 or more? Then you are obligated to provide information about the course of the capital. To meet the information requirements you have to fill in a form annually (to be found here*).

According to the dissolution provision for ANBI’s, a credit dissolution amount should go to a (comparable) ANBI (this provision has been eased as of January 2021, See box below).

Changes ANBI as of January 1st, 2021

Starting January 1st, 2021 a number of changes for organisations with an ANBI-status have been implemented.

Large ANBI’s (annual income higher than € 50.000, or expenses higher than € 100.000) are obligated to use a standard form* for the publication of their information. Smaller ANBI’s are not obligated to make use of the form, but it is recommended.

For non-cultural ANBI’s it is no longer obligatory to spend the income liquidation balance on an ANBI with a comparable goal. The balance can (unless the terminated ANBI is a cultural ANBI) be spent on other ANBI’s as well.

The integrity requirement has been tightened: When there is reasonable doubt concerning the integrity of an institution or individual (board member, management or dominating individuals such as ambassadors), a Certificate of Good Behavior (VOG) can be requested. Refusal of submission can lead to a termination or not granting the ANBI-status.
This last change serves the purpose of safeguarding the societal value and dignity of the ANBI’s and to minimize abuse of power. In the regard of this last change as of January 1st, 2021 the WBTR (Law Management and Supervision Legal Entities) has been expanded to also include foundations and associations. Legal measurements have been included in the new law that prevent abuse of power and self-enrichment in these institutions. For the cultural branch the Governance Cultural Code has been created: the code is intended to promote sound management and supervision within the cultural sector and to prevent undesired conflicts of interests.

Would you like to know more?

Would you like to know more about the conditions, benefits and obligations of ANBI’s? Read more about these items on the Tax Authorities’ website*. For an overview of the registered ANBI’s you can click here*. More information about SBBI’s can be found here*. On our website you can read more about related topics. For example, we write articles about legislation and regulations concerning foundations, about the WBTR, Cultural governance and tax benefits.

Lexlupa is a multidisciplinary effort of fiscal, legal and economic experts. We give advice and guidance to companies, institutions and private individuals at life events. Lexlupa helps you to make well-informed choices in business and personal affairs, and we support you in managing your business in the best possible way.

*Need help with navigating Dutch websites? Contact us!