Definition
A community interest company (CIC) is a limited company set up to benefit the community and not its owners. It is registered at Companies House, has an asset lock, and reports each year to the CIC Regulator.
What makes it a CIC
A community interest company is an ordinary limited company, limited by guarantee or by shares, with three extra features:
- it must satisfy the community interest test;
- its assets are protected by an asset lock;
- it delivers a CIC34 report every year with its accounts.
Its name ends in “CIC” or “community interest company”.
A CIC is not a charity
A CIC cannot be a registered charity and gets none of the charitable tax reliefs. For tax it is simply a company: it pays Corporation Tax on its profits at the normal rates and files a normal CT600. In exchange it is more lightly regulated than a charity and its directors can be paid.
Read more: Community Interest Companies: the CT600 and the CIC34 report.