Former Charities

When a charity is removed from the Scottish Charity register, they still have responsibilities under charity law to prepare and submit accounts to OSCR for any outstanding charitable assets they hold at the time of removal.
These assets include:
  • any property previously acquired
  • any property representing income previously acquired
  • the income from such property.

Read our guidance on OSCR Monitoring Under Section 19 for further information on the reporting responsibilities of former charities.

When can a charity be removed from the Register?

Charities may be removed from the Scottish Charity Register at their own request or because we decide to remove them.

What happens after a charity has been removed from the Register?

When a charity is removed from the Register, we will ask the former charity to provide the following information:
  • A statement of charitable assets at the date of removal from the Register.
  • A statement of the proposed use of these charitable assets.
  • Any outstanding accounts, if appropriate, which were due to be filed with us up to the date of removal from the Register.
  • Confirmation of the chosen accounting reference date for reporting to us.
From the information supplied, we will determine whether the former charity has ongoing responsibilities as set out in charity law.

What happens if OSCR determines there are ongoing responsibilities?

If we determine ongoing responsibilities exist, the former charity is required to continue to submit annual accounts to us within nine months of its chosen accounting reference date.

Once these assets (or any income from them) have been used up and are no longer held by the former charity, we will have no further interest in the organisation.

Read our Monitoring Under Section 19 - Report on Work to Date for details of the work we have conducted in this area.