Charity Status
Hi Gwyneth Thanks for your question, there are a couple of advantages to charitable registration, such as: - Rate relief - as a charity you are entitled to 80% rte relief on any property that the charity owns, some local authorities go further and give 100% b this is at their discretion. Fund raising - there are private trust funds out there that will only provide funding to a registered charity. Tax - there are some tax advantages to being a charity but this can be quite complex so we always advise a chat to your accountant about this. Protection of assets - as the assets of the organisation would be deemed "Charitable" it gives added protection against them being miss used. One of the down sides is that charities do not have total freedom to trade. The trade has to be linked to your objects. If you want to earn money from a commercial idea the charitable route may not be for you, but you could always run your trading ideas past the Charities Commission in the first instance. Whether a Charity is going to be right for you will depend on your aims and objectives and your business model. If you want to chat more feel free to post a response. Regards Glenn
