Charity annual returns – changes ahead

Later this year The Charity Commission will introduce a tailored annual return which will include some new questions which may require preparation in advance.

Overseas expenditure

As these new questions will likely require additional preparation, they will be optional for 2018 but become mandatory for 2019 onwards:

1. When spending money outside England and Wales, did your charity transfer money outside of the regulated banking system?
2. What methods to transfer money did the charity use and what was the value?

Options:

• cash courier
• other charities or non-governmental organisations and non-profit organisations (NGOs/NPOs)
• money service business (MSB)
• informal money transfer systems
• online payment methods (for example PayPal)
• other

3. Does the charity have monitoring controls in place to monitor overseas expenditure?
4. Are the trustees satisfied that the charity’s risk management policy and procedures adequately address the risks to the charity arising from its activities and/or where it operates?

Income from outside the UK

There will now be a breakdown of sources of income from each country a charity receives funds from. Again, this is optional for 2018 but mandatory from 2019 onwards.

Options:

• overseas governments or quasi government bodies
• overseas charities, non-governmental organisations or non-profit organisations (NGOs/NPOs)
• other overseas institutions (for example private company donations)
• individual donors resident overseas
• unknown

Salary and benefits in charities

The Charity Commission has undertaken research with regards to public trust and confidence and it showed that the public is concerned about high levels of pay in charities. As a result, charities will need to provide more information about salaries to increase accountability.

The annual return in 2018 will ask for a breakdown of salaries across certain income bands, and also the total amount of employee benefits for the highest paid member of staff.

Specific details of the benefits given will not be published on the public register.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.