Filing the annual report

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the UK’s regulators all announced measures designed to ease the administrative burden on charities and provided extra time to file their annual reports.

As we slowly return to a more normal way of operating, these measures are being withdrawn and charities will need to ensure that wherever possible they report in accordance within the usual timeframes. The Scottish regulator, OSCR, has already reminded charities that its grace period came to an end on 31 March 2021, so any charity with a deadline for filing their annual reports after 1 April 2021 will not receive any additional time to file, and the usual nine month filing deadline should be complied with.

For charitable companies, legislation was introduced that gave an additional three months for filing accounts with Companies House. This only applied to charitable companies with a normal filing deadline up to and including 5 April 2021, so effectively charities with a year end falling after 5 July 2020 will need to ensure that they file their accounts within the usual nine month deadline to avoid a late filing penalty. The deadlines for filing other information at Companies House are also set to return to their normal levels in April.

Charities that continue to have difficulty in meeting their filing obligations should contact their regulators at the earliest opportunity if additional time is needed. Although penalties are not issued by the regulators, late filings do appear permanently on public record for those regulated by CCEW and OSCR.

Guidance:
OSCR bit.ly/3ksiM1V

Companies House bit.ly/3uz6Eka