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1,700 charities failed to file annual report on time

A total of 71 new charities were added to the Register of Charities in the first six months of 2024.

During the same period, 85 charities were deregistered by the Charities Regulator, which is led by solicitor Madeleine Delaney (small picture).

Legal structure

By law, all charities must apply to the Charities Regulator for inclusion on the register, regardless of their size, legal structure or income.

Charities must also notify the Charities Regulator of their intention to wind up operations and be removed from the register.

The highest number of charities registered in the first six months of 2024 are based in Dublin (18), making up a quarter of all new charities, while nine are based in Cork, and six are in Wicklow.

The new charities collectively are advancing a range of purposes, with many advancing more than one:

• Advancement of education – 30% (21),
• Advancement of community welfare – including the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, or disability – 20% (14),
• Advancement of religion – 17% (12),
• Promotion of health – 15% (11).

Almost a quarter (24%) of the newly-registered charities are associations, and over half (55%) are companies limited by guarantee (CLG).

Each application is assessed to ensure it meets the “charity test’, as set out in the Charities Act 2009.

Public benefit is one of the main distinguishing elements.

A charity must provide a public benefit at all times. If it does not, it is no longer charitable, the regulator states.

Despite the statutory requirement to file an annual report, compliance rates have decreased in recent years.

In 2023, the Charities Regulator contacted over 1,700 charities that were late or had not filed at least one annual report.

Removed

As of June 2024, 14 charities were removed from the register for not complying with their obligation to submit an annual report.

De-registrations

Of the 85 charities deregistered in the first six months of 2024, 13 were section-39 charities. These are charities that are required to notify the Charities Regulator prior to winding up.

A further 72 were section-40 charities. When the Charities Regulator was established in 2014, organisations that already held a CHY number granted by Revenue were automatically deemed registered in line with section 40 of the act.

A deemed-registered charity can remain on the register only for so long as it continues to hold an entitlement to a charitable tax exemption.

When the Charities Regulator is notified by Revenue that a deemed-registered charity has lost its CHY number then it must be removed from the Register of Charities.

The Charities Regulator will host a webinar on Tuesday 17 September (12.30 -1.30pm) on the legal obligation to submit a charity’s annual report within ten months of its financial year-end.  

Register by noon on Monday 16 September - https://tinyurl.com/nsjrdukm