In the Netherlands, special tax incentives apply for so called ‘public benefit pursuing entities' (hereinafter PBEs). Currently, the Dutch tax authorities have registered 50.000 PBEs. The main criterion is not whether the activities or the entities are not for profit, but whether these activities or entities meet the public benefit criterion. The Dutch tax legislation on PBEs has changed considerably during the past 10 years. The latest changes were included in the Act on giving (Geefwet), which enters into force on 1 January 2012. In this paper, the definition of a PBE and the rules and the requirements for PBEs and the tax treatment of charities and donations to charities in the personal income tax, corporate income tax, gift and inheritance tax, real estate transfer tax, energy tax and value added tax are discussed