Formal Establishment of the CRA and Commencement Orders for the Charities Act 2009

October 16 2014, 10:02am

charitiesact2009

We are delighted to let you know that the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald TD has signed the Statutory Instruments for the formal establishment of the Charities Regulatory Authority as planned tommorow, the 16th October and the commencement order for the Charities Act as follows:

S.I. No. 456 of 2014. CHARITIES ACT 2009 (ESTABLISHMENT DAY) ORDER 2014.

This Order provides that the 16th of October, 2014, is the establishment day for the purposes of the Charities Act 2009.

S.I. No. 457 of 2014. CHARITIES ACT 2009 (COMMENCEMENT) ORDER 2014.

This Order appoints the 16th of October, 2014, as the date on which the provisions of Section 3, Sections 6 to 9, Section 10 (Subsections (3) and (4)), Section 11, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part

6, Schedule 1, and Schedule 2 of the Charities Act 2009 come into operation. This Order provides for the establishment of the Charities Regulatory Authority for the Regulation of Charitable

Organisations. It also provides for the establishment of the Charity Appeals Tribunal and the Dissolution of the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland.

This means that as of tomorrow all charities with a CHY Number will formally become registered charities under the 2009 Act and their names and addresses will be published on a new CRA Register of Charities. CHY Charities do not have to do anything they are automatically registered. Over the coming months all CHY charities will receive a letter from the CRA inviting them to create an online account to supply additional information for the Register, including annual reports, accounts and governing documents. There is no prescribed format or content for reports and accounts submitted during this process.

As per the provisions in the Act under section 52, annual reports and accounts will fall due 10 months after the charities first financial year end date after registration on 16th October, 2014. This means that the earliest that any charity will have to submit a report and accounts under Section 52 is August 2015 by which time it is likely that regulations will have been made by the Minister to set the standards (form and content) for these reports. The CRA will advise charities on what is expected in advance.

This is a major milestone for the sector so it is great to see it finally coming into operation. Charities are not required to take any action until the CRA has written to invite you to do so.