Charity registration – have you met the December deadline?

10 Dec 2014 Denise Copeland    Last updated: 27 Mar 2015

All voluntary and community organisations in Northern Ireland must consider if they are eligible to register as a charity and if so, they are legally required to make themselves known to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Organisations which would be considered charitable by their work and their governing document are expected to make themselves known to the Charity Commission by the end of December.  This includes those organisations which have never sought charitable status or indeed want it. For those organisations that have already sought charitable recognition from HMRC in the past, they must also now register as a charity with the Commission.

If you have not already done so then check the Charity Commission’s registration list to ensure that your organisation is on it.  If your organisation is not on this list then complete this very short expression of intent form  so that the Commission can call you forward for charity registration.

Registering as a charity

If you have already been called forward by the Commission to register, please don’t leave it to the last minute to complete the online registration form.  The Commission has issued various pieces of guidance on the registration process, including screen shots of the questions, to help charities with their applications and we would strongly recommend that you would start gathering the required information now.

We would also recommend that anyone completing the online application watch the online registration tutorial….it is  only 13 mins long and will save you time in the long run.

denise.copeland@nicva.org's picture
by Denise Copeland

Governance and Charity Advice Manager

[email protected]

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