Following a consultation period the government has said that it will go ahead with plans to double the audit threshold for most charities from £500,000 to £1m, making up to 4,000 charities exempt from audit requirements. The government said changes will come into effect on 31 March, 2015. In summary the changes will:
- increase the income threshold for audit of charities from £500,000 to £1,000,000;
- increase the aggregate group income threshold at which parent charities should have group accounts audited from £500,000 to £1,000,000; and
- increase the preparation threshold for group accounts from £500,000 to £1,000,000.
However, the asset test will be unchanged, so charities with income of £250,000 and assets of £3.6 million or more will still require an audit.
The changes apply to England and Wales only. Different thresholds will continue to apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland for the time being.
We will be in touch with our affected clients about these changes. If you have any questions please contact Lesley Malkin or Peter Taaffe.
