Register your charity

If you have been called forward by the Commission and have received a password allowing you to apply to register, you can begin the online registration application by clicking on the link below:

An organisation must apply for registration as a charity in Northern Ireland, regardless of its income, size or whether or not it has received charitable tax status from HMRC, if:

• it has exclusively charitable purposes
• it is governed by the law of Northern Ireland
• it is an institution, that is, it is an organisation that is an independent body, the hallmarks of which include having control and direction over its governance and resources.

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As the Commission is managing registration in stages, only organisations which have been called forward by the Commission, and have received an application password, will be able to apply to register as a charity at present.

For information on how the Commission processes personal data when an application is made to register an organisation as a charity, please see the Commission's Privacy notice for charity registration, which is available here. 

If you are a charity in Northern Ireland and have not yet heard from the Commission, you should prepare for registration now  by following the steps outlined here.

Before beginning your registration application, the Commission would encourage you to ensure that you have prepared all the information and documentation required in advance, using the registration support available.

The Commission has produced a wide range of guidance and support to assist charities in completing the registration process, all of which is available to read or download in the Registration support section of the Commission's website.

Some of the essential support tools available in this section include:

• The registration document and information checklist, which provides a summary of the information and documentation you will need. 
• The trustee declaration, which must be signed and dated by each trustee before being submitted along with your online registration application.
• The purposes and public benefit toolkit to support charities in identifying and reviewing their organisation's charitable purposes and public benefit.
• Registration information form to support charities in gathering the required contact information.
• Registering as a charity in Northern Ireland guidance.
• The public benefit requirement statutory guidance.
• Individual documents on each of the 12 charitable purposes.
• A checklist of common errors on registration applications - and how to avoid them