Applications for Charity or IPC Status

9 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) in 2015, how many applications have been made for charity or IPC status respectively; (b) of these, how many applications have been approved respectively; and (c) what are the main reasons for rejecting a charity or IPC status application respectively.

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: In 2015, 86 applications were made for charity status. As at 31 March 2016, 41 of these have been registered as charities and 17 charity applications were rejected. In the same period, 39 applications were made for Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status. Of these, 30 were granted IPC status and three were rejected. The remaining cases were withdrawn or are still under consideration.

Most of the rejected applications for charity registration were unable to meet registration requirements, such as having objects which were exclusively charitable. Some were rejected due to the lack of substantive activities, programmes or plans to demonstrate their sustainability. Others were rejected because they did not have clear intended beneficiaries or because their activities did not substantially benefit the community in Singapore.

The main reasons for rejecting IPC applications were poor governance, qualified audited financial statements, regulatory non-compliance or because applicants conducted activities which were not wholly beneficial to the community in Singapore.