There are a lot of very good reasons why people decide to set up a new charity. However, setting up a charity is not always the best way to proceed and, in some cases, it may not be legally possible.

A charity is a particular type of voluntary organisation - one that takes a distinctive legal form. Charities must provide benefit to the public not to a specific individual. Their aims, purposes or objectives have to be exclusively those which the law recognises as charitable. A registered charity can usually be given a special tax status and benefit from a number of tax exemptions and reliefs. Once registration of charities opens in Northern Ireland you will have to register with the Charity Commission before seeking special charitable tax status. HM Revenue & Customs (External link) is responsible for decisions about tax status once a charity is registered with us. You should contact HMRC directly for more information about this. However, in the meantime before registration begins in Northern Ireland, charities can go direct to HMRC to seek charitable tax status.

Registered charities have to obey a number of rules and regulations set out in charity law. Those that are registered as companies have to comply with company law too. A registered charity is not allowed to have political objectives or take part in political lobbying (other than in a generally educational sense).

These things may restrict what you want to achieve, so setting up a charity may not be the best way forward. You should read our guidance 'things to think about before setting up a new charity' before going any further.