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Charities Act 2006 – registration of excepted charities

The Charities Act 2006 will require “excepted” charities with annual income of over £100,000 to register with the Charity Commission. These provisions will now be introduced in January 2009, rather than October 2008, in order to give some excepted charities affected more time to prepare for registration with the Commission.

However, as the Commission’s plans and those of many of the larger groups of affected charities are well advanced, the Commission will begin registering some groups of excepted charities above the £100,000 income threshold from October 2008 on a voluntary basis.

The main classes of charities which have been excepted are:

• various religious charities (the Charities (Exception from Registration) Regulations 1996 and by Order of the Charity Commissioners);
• Armed Forces charities (the Charities (Exception from Registration and Accounts) Regulations 1965)
• Boy Scout and Girl Guide charities (the Charities (Excepting certain charities for Boy Scouts and Girl Guides from Registration) Regulations 1960); and
• certain trusts for the advancement of religion conditional on the upkeep of graves (the Charities (Exception from Registration) Regulations 1996 and by Order of the Charity Commissioners).

Commencing the excepted charities provisions in January 2009 will provide additional time to put in place measures to minimise the regulatory impact of the Charities Act on the governing bodies of foundation and voluntary aided schools in England and Wales. Although these schools governing bodies are currently exempt charities, certain provisions in the Charities Act 2006 that relate to them must be commenced at the same time as provisions relating to excepted charities.

Further information on the registration of excepted charities is available on the Charity Commission’s website:

• Charity Commission [external website]