The Charities Commission has the power under section 20 of the Charities Act 2005 to backdate the registration of charitable organisations.

This means that (for the purposes of the Charities Act, the Income Tax Act 2007, and the Estate and Gift Duties Act 1968) - if the Commission makes a decision to backdate the registration of an organisation, it will be treated as though it was a charitable entity as at a date before the Commission’s actual decision to register.

This is referred to as “the effective date of registration”.

There are two criteria the Commission will take into account when deciding whether it can backdate an application:

• is the application properly completed?
• was the organisation qualified for registration at all times during the period between the effective date of registration, and the date on which the decision to register it was made?