Can I file for a charity or community benefit society?

Can you use TinyTax to file for a charity or community benefit society? It depends on the type of organisation and what you need to file. This guide explains what's supported and what isn't.

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Quick Answer

Organisation type	CT600 + CT600E	Companies House accounts	How to add
Unregistered charity (not on Companies House)	Yes	n/a — not at CH	Manual entry → Charity
Charitable CLG (on Companies House, ticked "this is a charity")	Yes	No — file via SORP-capable software	Company number → tick charity box
Community benefit society / registered society	Yes	No — file with FCA	Company number or manual entry
Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC)	Yes, when claiming full exemption	n/a — not at CH, or file as an ordinary company	Company number → tick charity/CASC box, or manual entry → Club
Mutual society / friendly society (ME/MU prefix)	Basic CT600 only	No — file with FCA	Manual entry
Co-operative society	Basic CT600 only	No — file with FCA	Manual entry
Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)	Yes	No — file with Charity Commission	Manual entry → Charity
Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO)	Yes	No — file with OSCR	Manual entry → Charity

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Charities

Unregistered Charities (Not on Companies House)

Many charities are unincorporated — they don't have a Companies House registration. You can file CT600 + CT600E for an unregistered charity through TinyTax using manual entry.

How to file:

1. Click Add Company on your dashboard
2. Type your charity's name (or UTR) into the search box \u2014 since it isn't at Companies House, you'll see "No companies found"
3. Click Organisation not at Companies House? below the search box
4. Choose Charity as the organisation type
5. Enter your charity's details (name, UTR, address)
6. Complete the form — the Charity Income & Expenditure section replaces the standard Profit & Loss section automatically

The Charity Income & Expenditure form. When you select "Charity" as the organisation type, TinyTax swaps the standard Profit & Loss section for a single SORP-aligned form covering both the CT600 main return and the CT600E supplement. You enter each economic event once, in the matching category — eight income lines (E50–E85) and three expenditure lines (E110–E125):

Enter 0 on any line that doesn't apply — HMRC requires every line to have a value, even if it's zero.

[ui:alert:info:<strong>All your charity income is treated as exempt from corporation tax</strong> (CT600E box E20). This is the right setup for the great majority of UK charities and what the Phase 1 form is designed for. If your charity has non-exempt trading income (e.g. a commercial trading subsidiary inside the same legal entity), please file via [HMRC Gateway or an accountant — mixed-status returns aren't supported here yet.]]

What TinyTax files for you:

• A CT600 main return claiming full tax exemption
• The CT600E supplement with your income broken down into the matching E-boxes (E50–E125) above the line, AllExempt ticked
• An iXBRL tax computations attachment showing zero corporation tax due
• A PDF of the figures as the HMRC accounts attachment (HMRC Charities & CASCs back-office team expect this)

We don't generate a full Charities SORP set of accounts (no Statement of Financial Activities, no trustees' annual report, no notes). For many unregistered charities — especially small ones with exempt income — what we file is enough for HMRC. If your charity is larger or HMRC has specifically asked for full SORP-format accounts, you may prefer an accountant or HMRC's free Company Tax Return service.

Charitable CLGs (On Companies House)

If your charity is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered at Companies House, TinyTax files your CT600 + CT600E to HMRC — but not your Companies House accounts. The accounts side has to go elsewhere because UK charity accounts must apply the Charities SORP (Statement of Financial Activities, trustees' annual report, restricted/unrestricted fund disclosures), which TinyTax's standard FRS 105 / FRS 102 Section 1A output doesn't include. Companies Act 2006 §384B also explicitly excludes charities from the FRS 105 micro-entity regime.

How to file:

1. Add your CLG using its Companies House number
2. On the company-type screen, tick "this is a registered charity claiming tax exemption"
3. The form automatically becomes a CT600-only flow — the standard Profit & Loss section is replaced by the Charity Income & Expenditure form described above
4. File the CT600 + CT600E to HMRC through TinyTax
5. File the Companies House accounts separately using SORP-capable software (Xero with the SORP module, IRIS, Sage Charity, BTCSoftware, etc.) or via your accountant

Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs and SCIOs)

You can file CT600 + CT600E for a CIO (registered with the Charity Commission in England & Wales, company number prefix CE) or a SCIO (registered with OSCR in Scotland, prefix SC) through TinyTax using manual entry. CIOs and SCIOs file their accounts with the Charity Commission / OSCR respectively, not Companies House — that's a separate filing we don't handle.

Why this needs manual entry: When you add a CIO by company number, Companies House returns no accounting periods (CIOs aren't required to file accounts at CH), so the dashboard has no Start Filing button to show. The manual-entry route bypasses that.

How to file:

1. Click Add Company on your dashboard
2. Type your CIO's name (or CE\/SC number) into the search box \u2014 CIOs don't return a Companies House match, so you'll see "No companies found"
3. Click Organisation not at Companies House? below the search box
4. Choose Charity as the organisation type
5. Enter your CIO's name, UTR, and registered address (you can enter your CE/SC charity number alongside if you have it)
6. Complete the Charity Income & Expenditure form — same SoFA-aligned categories as for any other charity (see Unregistered Charities above)

The output is the same as for any other charity: CT600 + CT600E claiming full tax exemption, plus a PDF of the figures attached for HMRC's back-office review. Accounts still need to go to the Charity Commission (or OSCR) separately — TinyTax only handles the HMRC side.

Do Charities Pay Corporation Tax?

Most registered charities are exempt from corporation tax on charitable income and gains. However, charities may still need to file CT600 if:

• They have non-charitable trading income
• HMRC has specifically asked them to file
• They want to claim gift aid repayments

If your charity is fully exempt and HMRC hasn't asked you to file, you may not need CT600 at all. Check with HMRC or your accountant if you're unsure.

Why the Expenditure Section Matters (Even When You're Claiming Full Exemption)

Ticking "registered charity claiming tax exemption" sets the CT600E AllExempt flag, and the CT600 main return correctly reports £0 chargeable profit and £0 tax due — the exemption claim itself doesn't depend on the expenditure boxes.

However, HMRC's test for charity exemption is that your income was wholly applied for charitable purposes during the period. The expenditure section of the Charity Income & Expenditure form is where you evidence that: charitable grants made in the UK, grants made overseas, and other charitable expenditure (staff, premises, programme delivery, professional fees, depreciation — everything the charity spent on its charitable work).

Practical guidance for a charity claiming full exemption:

• For most working charities, your expenditure for the period should roughly match your income — the income came in and was applied to the charitable cause within the period.
• If you held some income in reserves (i.e. spent less than you received), enter the amount you actually spent. The unspent balance is fine — it stays exempt as long as it's set aside for charitable purposes.
• If you're a dormant charity with no income and no expenditure, enter 0 in every field — that's an explicit declaration and is accepted by HMRC.

The split between Grants/donations made (UK), Grants/donations made (overseas), and Other charitable expenditure is also useful evidence — HMRC pays particular attention to overseas grants, so a charity that makes them should keep records of the recipient and confirm the recipient is a qualifying body.

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Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)

Community Amateur Sports Clubs registered with HMRC can file a basic CT600 through TinyTax using manual entry.

How to file:

1. Click Add Company on your dashboard
2. Type your CASC's name into the search box \u2014 if it isn't at Companies House you'll see "No companies found"
3. Click Organisation not at Companies House? below the search box
4. Choose Club as the organisation type
5. Enter your CASC's details (name, UTR, address)
6. Complete the CT600 as normal

Same format as unregistered charities: TinyTax generates basic iXBRL accounts (balance sheet + signatory) and attaches a PDF copy alongside. If your CASC has complex income sources or HMRC expects full SORP-format accounts, consider HMRC's free service or an accountant.

CT600E Supplementary Pages (CASCs)

CT600E is HMRC's charity and CASC form, and TinyTax does support it for CASCs claiming full exemption. HMRC's own schema describes the claim as "the company was a charity/CASC and is claiming exemption from all tax on all or part of its income and gains", and the repayment reference box is the "Charity/CASC repayment reference".

If your CASC is on Companies House as a company limited by guarantee, tick "This is a registered charity or CASC claiming tax exemption" on the filing form. Your CT600 will include the CT600E supplement claiming full exemption, and the income and expenditure you enter feeds the CT600E figures HMRC asks for.

The limit is which exemption you're claiming, not whether you're a CASC. TinyTax generates the full exemption claim (AllExempt) only. A CASC with taxable income that needs to claim exemption on part of its income — trading receipts above the CASC threshold, for example — needs a partial claim we don't currently generate; for that, use HMRC's CT600 filing service or specialist tax software.

If your CASC isn't on Companies House, add it by manual entry → Club. The same "This is a registered charity or CASC claiming tax exemption" checkbox appears on that club's filing form, exactly as it does for a Companies-House-looked-up CLG \u2014 tick it there to add the CT600E supplement and claim full exemption, or leave it unticked to file a plain CT600. You do not need to re-add the club under a different organisation type (e.g. "Charity") to unlock CT600E \u2014 the checkbox is already available on the Club entry itself.

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Community Benefit Societies, Mutual Societies, and Registered Societies

Community benefit societies, mutual societies, friendly societies, and registered societies (collectively also known as industrial and provident societies) can file CT600 through TinyTax. These entities file their accounts with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), not Companies House — that's a separate filing we don't handle.

How to file

1. Click Add Company on your dashboard and enter your society's registered number — or select Manual Entry if your society isn't on Companies House
2. On the CT600 & Accounts tab you'll see a "Ready to file your first return" panel with a Start filing button next to your society
3. Click Start filing and enter your accounting period start and period end dates
4. Your society now appears in the list with a Start Filing ▾ button — click it and complete the CT600 as normal

If you have multiple years to catch up on, file them in date order — oldest first — and just change the dates inside the form each time. HMRC tracks returns by period, so any sequence works as long as the dates match what they're expecting.

As with charities, TinyTax generates basic iXBRL accounts (balance sheet + signatory) alongside the CT600. Larger societies with substantial activity may prefer to attach their full FCA-filed accounts as a PDF via HMRC's free Company Tax Return service.

Societies with HMRC charitable tax status (CT600 + CT600E)

A community benefit society can also be recognised by HMRC as a charity for tax purposes — usually evidenced by an HMRC charities reference number, the ability to claim Gift Aid, or a successful ChA1 application. In that case, the society does need to file CT600 + CT600E to claim the charitable tax exemption on its income and gains. Filing CT600 on its own isn't enough.

How to file CT600 + CT600E for a registered society with HMRC charity tax status:

When you add a registered society by company number (RS / IP / SP prefix), TinyTax treats it as a non-charity society and won't include the CT600E section. To unlock CT600E, re-add the same society via Manual Entry → Charity:

1. Click Add Company on your dashboard
2. Type the society's name into the search box (not its RS\/IP\/SP number, so it won't match the CH-linked entry) \u2014 you'll see "No companies found"
3. Click Organisation not at Companies House? below the search box
4. Select Charity as the organisation type
5. Enter the society's name, UTR, and registered address — you can include the RS / IP / SP number alongside if you wish, but it isn't required
6. Open the new company and start the CT600 — the Charity Income & Expenditure form replaces the standard P&L automatically. Enter 0 on any line that doesn't apply.

The original CH-linked entry for the society can be left alone or archived from the dashboard — you don't need to use it to file. Accounts still go to the FCA separately.

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Co-operative Societies

Co-operative societies can file CT600 through TinyTax using manual entry (if not on Companies House) or via their registered number. Same pattern as community benefit societies: accounts go to the FCA, and TinyTax generates basic iXBRL accounts alongside the CT600.

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Common Questions

Q: My charity is a CLG — do I choose "Trading Company" or something else? A: Tick "this is a registered charity claiming tax exemption" on the company-type screen. TinyTax then routes you to the charity flow regardless of which company type (Trading / Property / Dormant) you selected — the Charity Income & Expenditure form replaces the standard P&L and the filing intent clamps to CT600 only.

Q: My community benefit society runs a community shop — which company type? A: If the society does not have HMRC charity tax status, choose Trading Company and enter shop income as turnover. If it does have HMRC charity tax status, see the "Societies with HMRC charitable tax status" section above — re-add via Manual Entry → Charity to unlock the CT600E form.

Q: Does TinyTax know my organisation is a charity? A: For CLGs added via Companies House number, you tick "this is a registered charity" on the company-type screen — TinyTax then routes you to the charity flow. For manual entry, you select "Charity" when adding the organisation. CIOs and SCIOs are detected automatically.

Q: Can I file for a dormant charity? A: Yes — tick the "registered charity" box and fill the Charity Income & Expenditure form with zeros. TinyTax emits a CT600 + CT600E with all-zero income and expenditure, which HMRC accepts (an empty CT600E supplement can be voided post-acceptance, so the all-zero declaration is the right shape). A TinyTax subscription is required — visit the pricing page for options.

Q: My charity uses SORP-format accounts — can I still use TinyTax? A: Yes, for the HMRC side: you can file your CT600 + CT600E supplement through TinyTax regardless of your accounts format, claiming full tax exemption. We attach a PDF of the income / expenditure figures alongside. For your Companies House filing (charitable CLGs only — CIOs/SCIOs file with the Charity Commission/OSCR instead), use SORP-capable software like Xero with the SORP module, IRIS, Sage Charity, or BTCSoftware — TinyTax's standard FRS 105 / FRS 102 Section 1A output isn't a SORP-compliant format and can't legally be used for charity accounts at CH.

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Related Guides

• CICs and CLGs — detailed guide for Community Interest Companies and Companies Limited by Guarantee
• What does TinyTax support? — full feature matrix

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Still Have Questions?

Not sure whether TinyTax works for your charity or society? Get in touch and we'll advise.

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Last updated: 4 May 2026