Latest news from the Charity Commission

While the Commission does not have possession of the Inland Revenue’s listing of charities registered for tax purposes in Northern Ireland as yet (plan to receive it in February) it is envisaged that the charity register will still go live in April of this year as was originally planned.  The Commission will conduct an awareness raising campaign before May to communicate what will be expected of charities.

Further to the recent consultation on the guidance for the public benefit test, the official guidance on the public benefit test will be published in March of this year.

The Commission recognises the need for subordinate legislation for accounting requirements for all charities and envisages that it will consult on these before passing to the Assembly.  The date for the receipt of the first charity reports has been moved back a year until April 2012 to allow charities to prepare for the new changes. 

The new rules for public collections are still planned to come into being in 2011, along with the introduction of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation, the new legal structure for charities. 

For further information download NICVA’s briefing paper on the Charities Act (below) which includes the latest implementation timetable, or contact denise.mccann@nicva.org