Return of the return

You’d be forgiven for putting off this rainy-day task while the sun is shining, but charities will soon be faced with a new format of annual return, which will be available before the end of August 2018.

There are new questions to consider if you spend money outside England and Wales (including for example, club trips or tours abroad) or receive income from outside the UK. Some charities might need to gather and report on data that they haven’t provided before, particularly in relation to any work carried out while overseas.

The good news is that some of these questions are optional for 2018, giving you more time to prepare. Here’s what to expect.

Expenditure outside England and Wales (optional for 2018 and mandatory for 2019)

• When spending money outside England and Wales, did your charity transfer money outside of the regulated banking system? Yes/No
• What methods to transfer money did the charity use and what was the value?

  a. Cash courier

  b. Other charities or NGOs/NPOs

  c. Money service business (MSB)

  d. Informal money transfer systems

  e. Online payment methods (for example PayPal)

  f. Other

• Does the charity have monitoring controls in place to monitor overseas expenditure? Yes/No
• 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? Yes/No

Income received from outside the United Kingdom (categories c and d in this question will be optional to answer for 2018 but mandatory from 2019 onwards)

• During the financial period for this annual return, did the charity receive income from outside of the UK? Yes/No
• Select countries the charity received income from during the financial period for this annual return or select ‘unknown/don’t know'
• What is the value of income by country? For each country specify the source and amount of income from the options:

  a. Overseas governments or quasi government bodies

  b. Overseas charities, NGOs or NPOs

  c. Other overseas institutions (for example private company donations)

  d. Individual donors resident overseas

  e. Unknown/don’t know

There will be other new questions in the 2018 annual return related to staff salaries and benefits so please check GOV.UK for more information.

Alternatively, if you have any queries about the matters discussed, please contact your dedicated team:

County FAs

Call 08448 240 432 or [email protected]

Chartered Standard Clubs

Call 0191 211 7799 or email [email protected]