The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales
Charities have a duty to be transparent and accountable to donors, beneficiaries and the public. Registered charities are required by law to provide certain documents to the Commission and to keep their information on the public Register up to date.
Trustees of charities with income exceeding £10,000 in their last financial year are required to complete and submit an Annual Return. For financial years ending before 1st April 2009 they must also submit a copy of the Trustees’ Annual Report and accounts.
For financial years ending on or after 1st April 2009, the threshold for submitting a Trustees' Annual Report and accounts has been increased so that only charities with income above £25,000 need submit copies of these. All required submissions must be made within 10 months of the end of the charity’s financial year.
Charities with an annual income of £10,000 or less do not have to submit an Annual Return or a copy of their Trustees’ Annual Report and accounts but are required to keep their Register details up to date. To ensure that Register details are up to date and to confirm that they are still operating, we ask smaller charities to submit our Annual Update form.
Charities have 10 months from the end of their financial year to file their documents and we offer advice and guidance to help them to meet this deadline.
As part of a charity’s entry on the Register we will indicate whether latest due documents have been received or are overdue.
The Commission has a statutory duty to maintain an accurate Register of Charities and to remove any charities that have ceased to operate or exist.
Charities failing to provide evidence of their activity and existence by submitting accounts, Annual Returns or Annual Updates will be sent a series of reminders. If the Commission has not received overdue documents, charities may be removed from the Register.