How to complete the Charity Commission annual return

The Charity Commission annual return is the mechanism by which registered charities in England and Wales account to their regulator each year. It is not optional: section 169 of the Charities Act 2011 places a legal duty on charity trustees to file, and the Commission publishes compliance information publicly on its register.

This guide covers what you need to submit, the thresholds that determine how much, the filing process step by step, and the separate requirements for charities based in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Who must file?

Any charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales must complete an annual return each year. What the return requires depends on income: charities with gross income of £10,000 or less complete a shorter return that confirms their income and spending and keeps their register entry current (name, contact address, trustees); above £10,000 the return asks for more detail, and above £25,000 the accounts and trustees' annual report are attached as well.

Exempt charities (universities, academy trusts, certain housing associations) and excepted charities below the income threshold do not register with the Commission in the first place and are outside this regime entirely.

What you must submit, and when

The filing deadline is 10 months after the end of your charity's financial year. For a year ending 31 March 2026, that is 31 January 2027. For a December year-end, it is 31 October the following year.

What you submit depends on gross income:

• Income between £10,001 and £25,000: annual return only (financial summary questions within the portal). You are not required to file accounts or a trustees' annual report, though the Commission encourages uploading them voluntarily.
• Income above £25,000: annual return plus your trustees' annual report (TAR) and the full accounts (receipts and payments or accruals, depending on your structure and income level). Both documents must be uploaded as PDFs within the portal.
• Income above £1 million, or income above £250,000 with gross assets above £3.26 million (above £1.5 million, or £500,000 with gross assets above £5 million, for financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026): accounts must have been subject to statutory audit rather than independent examination, and the signed audit report must be included in the accounts upload.

What the annual return asks

The Commission's annual return questionnaire covers several areas trustees must answer accurately:

• Income and expenditure totals for the year, broken down by source (donations, grants, trading, investment income, charitable activities).
• Charity activities: a brief description of what the charity did during the year to further its purposes.
• Serious incidents: whether any serious incident was reported to the Commission during the year. A "no" answer when incidents occurred and were not reported is itself a regulatory matter.
• Trustee and contact details: confirmation that the register entry is accurate. Any changes to trustees must be updated at the same time if not already done.
• Financial controls declaration: trustees confirm that appropriate financial controls are in place. This is a trustee responsibility, not a formality.

The Commission updates the annual return questions periodically. Always work from the live portal questions for the year you are filing, not a prior year's printout.

How to file: step by step

1. Log in to the My Charity Commission portal at gov.uk using your charity's registered email address and password. If no one has the login credentials, use the portal's account recovery route before the deadline.
2. Select "Annual return" from your charity's dashboard. The portal will show the return for the financial year that has just ended.
3. Work through the questionnaire sections. Save progress as you go; the portal allows you to return to a partially completed return. Have your signed accounts and trustees' annual report ready as PDFs before you start the final submission step.
4. Upload your accounts and TAR if your income exceeds £25,000. The portal accepts PDF uploads. Ensure the accounts are signed by the chair or a trustee and that the independent examiner's or auditor's report is included where required.
5. Review and submit. Once submitted, you will receive a confirmation email. The Commission will publish the return and documents on your charity's public register entry, usually within a few working days.

Common errors to avoid

Several errors recur in annual returns and can prompt follow-up from the Commission:

• Income figures that do not match the accounts. The return figures must reconcile with the accounts you upload. Rounding or summary differences will be queried.
• Missing trustee signatures on accounts. Accounts filed without a trustee signature are invalid. The independent examiner's report must also be signed.
• Answering "no" to the serious incidents question incorrectly. If a reportable serious incident occurred during the year and was not reported at the time, filing an inaccurate annual return compounds the problem. Take legal advice before filing if there is any uncertainty.
• Uploading draft accounts. Only upload accounts that have been finalised, examined or audited, and signed. Uploading a draft and intending to replace it is not a safe approach; contact the Commission's helpline instead.
• Missing the deadline. Late filing is displayed publicly on the register. If a genuine delay is unavoidable (for example, a trustee dispute or an ongoing examination), contact the Commission proactively before the deadline rather than after it passes.

Trustees' annual report: what it must include

The trustees' annual report (TAR) is a separate document from the accounts but must be filed alongside them if income exceeds £25,000. Its contents are prescribed by the Charities SORP (the Statement of Recommended Practice that governs charity accounting).

For charities with income below £500,000 preparing receipts and payments accounts, the TAR requires:

• A description of the charity's purposes and activities during the year.
• A summary of the main achievements against those purposes.
• Details of financial position, reserves policy and any material uncertainties.
• Names of trustees who served during the year (at least one name must appear; others may be withheld on a case-by-case basis if there is a security risk, but you must contact the Commission before omitting names).

Charities preparing accruals accounts under the full SORP (broadly those with income above £250,000, or £500,000 for financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026, or those that choose accruals) must include additional disclosures including a fuller statement of financial activities, going-concern assessment, related-party transactions and details of restricted funds.

The Charity Commission's guidance document CC17a sets out the full requirements for the TAR. It is worth reading the current version each year, as the SORP is updated.

Scotland: OSCR annual return

Charities registered in Scotland are regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), not the Charity Commission. They must file an annual return with OSCR through the OSCR online portal. The filing deadline in Scotland is 9 months after the financial year end (one month shorter than England and Wales). Accounts must be attached for charities with income above £25,000. Scottish charity law is primarily set by the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, and the Scottish SORP requirements differ in some respects from the SORP applied south of the border. Trustees of Scottish charities should not file with the Charity Commission; doing so has no legal effect for a Scottish-registered charity.

Northern Ireland: CCNI annual monitoring return

Charities registered in Northern Ireland are regulated by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI). The annual monitoring return is submitted through CCNI's online portal. The filing deadline is 10 months after the financial year end, the same as England and Wales. However, the questions asked and the account preparation standards differ from those in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland has its own legislative basis in the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. CCNI publishes its own annual monitoring return guidance which trustees should consult.

What happens after you file

Once submitted, the Commission processes the return and makes the accounts publicly available on the charity's register page. The Commission may request clarification on specific figures or disclosures; responses are generally required within a set timeframe stated in any letter you receive.

Filing on time and accurately is the baseline. Beyond that, the annual return cycle is a useful prompt to review your reserves policy, check that your governing document still reflects how you operate, and confirm that all trustee appointments and retirements have been notified to the Commission during the year rather than left to the return.

If your charity needs support preparing accounts, completing an independent examination or navigating the annual return, the charity accounts and compliance services at Trustee Tax cover the full cycle from accounts preparation through to examiner sign-off and return filing.