Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Charity definition

What does Charity mean? In practice, a charity is an organisation established solely for charitable purposes to deliver public benefit, with assets held for those purposes and supervised by the courts and charity regulators. Common forms include a trust, unincorporated association or company limited by guarantee (including CIO/SCIO). Surpluses cannot be distributed to members; funds must be applied to the purposes. Political activity is permitted only as ancillary. Status determines regulatory duties and eligibility for charity tax reliefs. England and Wales: Charities Act 2011, s 1, defines a charity as an institution established for charitable purposes only and subject to High Court control;...

Scottish Charity Law: OSCR’s Functions, Monitoring and Enforcement; Accounting and Fundraising Rules; Appeals; and 2023 Act Reforms (2025 commencements and audit threshold increases)

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Practice notes

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FORTHCOMING CHANGE:

The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 will be implemented in two additional stages, which are expected to occur (i) in late summer or early autumn 2025 and (ii) by the close of the 2025 calendar year, respectively. The Scottish Government has indicated it will legislate to revise the accounting audit thresholds in Scotland, in order to raise the gross income threshold from £500,000 to £1m. New regulations are expected in autumn 2025.

Regulation by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) was created by the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (2005 asp 10) (CTI(S)A 2005) to be the registrar and regulator of Scottish charities. It functions as the registrar and regulator of Scottish charities...

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Gavin McEwan

Turcan Connell

Gavin McEwan is a Partner and Head of Charities at Turcan Connell working principally in the fields of charity law, succession, trusts and tax. He is the Head of Turcan Connell's Charities Legal Team, is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in charity law and chairs the Law Society of Scotland’s panel on specialist accreditation in charity law. He is a member of the Charity Law Reform Committee of the Law Society of Scotland and the Charity Law Association Executive Committee and Standing Tax Committee.Gavin's work in the area of charity law includes the establishment and reorganisation of charities, from Royal Charter bodies and major public trusts to smaller active and grant-making charities. He also advises a number of national institutions, arts bodies and historic houses.Gavin is a graduate of the University of Strathclyde and trained at W & J...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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