Chartered Accountants’ Benevolent Association today welcomed the Tribunal’s decision confirming its continuing status as a charity.
The Charity Tribunal sat in November to consider the case, to which CABA and nine other benevolent associations were a party, in order to decide whether they provided a public benefit and could therefore still be classified as charities following the implementation of the Charities Act 2006.
The decision may have affected an estimated 1,500 benevolent associations and similar bodies. Further background is provided in the section below.
Kath Haines, Chief Executive at CABA, said: “We were very pleased and relieved to receive the Tribunal’s decision. While we were confident that the outcome would be in our favour because we believe that CABA fully meets the public benefit rule, the Tribunal unavoidably served as a worry, a distraction and an expense.
“It is with some relief that we therefore are putting the matter behind us and looking to the future. We are in the process of introducing a range of new services for 2012 designed to meet the changing needs of Chartered Accountants, and the team here can now concentrate fully on delivering them in the best way possible.”
Background
In early 2011, The Charity Commission asked the Attorney General to investigate the impact of The Charities Act 2006 on benevolent funds and other poverty relief charities that provide benefits to a restricted group of people – who may be connected by membership of a society, employment with the same employer or similar. These may number an estimated 1,500 charitable organisations. The Charity Commission’s concern was whether these bodies still provided a “public benefit” following the implementation of the Charities Act 2006.
A hearing took place in November at which interested parties, including CABA, were able to present their arguments. If the Tribunal had held that these bodies no longer satisfied the public benefit test, they would no longer be charitable, which would have had significant implications for the charities affected.
The decision delivered by the Tribunal effectively confirms the status quo and agrees that a public benefit is being delivered and that the Charities Act 2006 has not overruled case law in relation to relief of poverty charities.