A charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) is a legal form designed for charities. It is a corporate body with limited liability that is registered only with the Charity Commission, not with Companies House.
What it is
A CIO gives a charity the advantages of incorporation, its own legal identity and limited liability for its members and trustees, without making it a company. It comes into existence when the Charity Commission registers it, and every CIO must be registered whatever its income.
There are two models: the foundation model, where the only members are the trustees, and the association model, which has a wider voting membership.
What it files
- Charity Commission: an annual return, trustees’ annual report and accounts every year.
- Companies House: nothing. A CIO has no company number.
- HMRC: a CT600 when HMRC issues a notice to file. A CIO is a company for Corporation Tax and claims its exemption on the CT600E.
In Tax Optimiser
A CIO files a Corporation Tax return only. Its accounts follow the Charities SORP, so they are attached to the return as a PDF.
Read more: Corporation Tax for a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).