Does a charitable company need to file a CT600? The CT600E explained

In short: A charitable company must file a Company Tax Return (CT600) when HMRC sends it a notice to deliver one, or when it has income that doesn't qualify for charity tax relief. With no tax to pay, it files only if HMRC asks (GOV.UK: Charities and tax). The return includes the CT600E pages, which claim the exemption. Taxley prepares and files the CT600 with the full CT600E pages for a fully exempt charity or CASC; a charity's return costs £139 and comes with Taxley's small-company accounts, which aren't Charities SORP accounts.

Take the 30-second check to see whether Taxley fits your company, or see what each plan includes.

Key facts (checked on 4 October 2026)

Does a charitable company have to file a Company Tax Return?

Only in two cases. A charitable company files a CT600 when HMRC sends it a notice to deliver a return, even if no tax is due, or when it has income or gains that don't qualify for charity tax relief. A charity with no tax to pay and no notice from HMRC doesn't need to file (GOV.UK: Charities and tax).

The notice is the usual trigger. GOV.UK says a company or association must file once it gets a notice to deliver a Company Tax Return, even if it makes a loss or has no Corporation Tax to pay (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns). For charities, HMRC says how often it asks for a return depends on several factors, including the extent and nature of the charity's activities (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page). Our guide to what HMRC's notice to deliver a return means covers the letter itself.

The second case needs no letter. A company that is chargeable to tax for an accounting period and hasn't received a notice must tell HMRC within 12 months of the end of that period (FA 1998 Sch 18 para 2). For a charity, that happens when some income falls outside the reliefs, or when money is spent on non-charitable purposes, which GOV.UK says is taxable. The reliefs apply only once HMRC has recognised the organisation as a charity (GOV.UK: Charities and tax).

The form depends on the charity's structure. A charity that is a limited company or an unincorporated association completes a Company Tax Return with the CT600E pages, while a charity set up by a trust deed or will completes a Trust and Estate Self Assessment tax return instead (GOV.UK: Charities and tax).

What is the CT600E and what does it report?

The CT600E is the set of supplementary pages a charity or community amateur sports club (CASC) files with its CT600 to claim exemption from tax on all or part of its income and gains. HMRC says the pages form the claim itself, on the basis that the income and gains were applied for charitable or qualifying purposes only (HMRC: CT600E form).

The claim boxes come first. Box E15 says the company was a charity or CASC claiming exemption, and is ticked even if it had no income or gains in the period. With it goes E20, when all income and gains are exempt and applied for charitable or qualifying purposes only, or E25, when some may not be, in which case the non-exempt amounts go on the main CT600 (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page). On the main return, box 4 (type of company) takes code 8 for a charity or a company owned by a charity (HMRC: Completing your Company Tax Return).

The rest of the pages summarise the accounts. Boxes E50 to E125 show exempt income, from trading turnover (E50) and Gift Aid (E65) to legacy income (E88), and the charity's spending, using the figures in its accounts and leaving out anything taxable (HMRC: information required). Boxes E130 to E190 cover assets and investments: E180 is ticked only if every investment and loan is an approved one, and E185 shows the value of any that aren't (HMRC: approved investments). Legacies received are listed in E195 and totalled in E200 (HMRC: legacy details).

Which charity income is exempt from Corporation Tax?

Most of it, provided the money is used for charitable purposes. GOV.UK says a charity doesn't pay tax on donations, profits from trading, rental or investment income such as bank interest, or profits from selling assets like property or shares (GOV.UK: Charities and tax). Each exemption has conditions.

Trading is where the conditions matter most. A trade is charitable when it is carried on in the course of a primary purpose of the charity, or when the work is mainly done by its beneficiaries, and a trade that is only partly primary purpose is split into two (CTA 2010 s.479). GOV.UK's examples include an independent school charging tuition fees and a museum running a café for visitors (GOV.UK: Charities and trading). Profits of a charitable trade are exempt when applied to the charity's purposes, and the exemption requires a claim (CTA 2010 s.478), which the CT600E makes.

Other trading can still be exempt under the small trading exemption. The limit is 25% of the charity's total incoming resources for the period, but never below £8,000 or above £80,000, reduced proportionately for a period shorter than 12 months. The condition is also met if the charity reasonably expected at the start of the period to stay within the limit (CTA 2010 s.482). In GOV.UK's table, gross income under £32,000 allows £8,000 of small trading turnover, income from £32,001 to £320,000 allows 25%, and income over £320,000 allows £80,000. Above the limit, tax is due on all the profits of that trade (GOV.UK: Charities and trading).

How does non-charitable expenditure restrict the exemptions?

Pound for pound, up to the exempt income. When a charitable company has non-charitable expenditure in a period, the same amount of its otherwise exempt income and gains loses the exemption, capped at the total of that income and gains (CTA 2010 s.493). GOV.UK puts it simply: tax is due on money not used for charitable purposes (GOV.UK: Charities and tax).

The legal definition is wider than spending on the wrong things. Under CTA 2010 s.496, it includes spending not incurred for charitable purposes only, a loss in a trade that is neither charitable nor otherwise exempt, money put into an investment that isn't an approved charitable investment, and loans that are neither investments nor approved charitable loans. A charity can make a written claim to HMRC for other investments and loans made for its benefit and not to avoid tax (HMRC: approved investments). GOV.UK's example is an investment in the charity's own trading company without evidence of benefit, repayment terms and a fair return that is actually paid (GOV.UK: Charities and trading).

On the return, any lost exemption moves the charity from E20 to E25, and the non-exempt income and gains go on the main CT600 (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page). For a trade outside the exemptions, HMRC's guidance says to complete the Company Tax Calculation on the CT600, leaving out income that is otherwise exempt (HMRC: information required).

How do community amateur sports clubs file a Company Tax Return?

The same way, using the same CT600E pages. A CASC must complete a return when it has tax to pay, or when HMRC asks for one even if there is no tax to pay (GOV.UK: Tax relief for CASCs), and it claims its exemptions on the CT600E. Its reliefs differ from a charity's and come with fixed income limits.

GOV.UK lists what a CASC doesn't pay tax on, if the money is used for qualifying purposes: bank interest, Gift Aid donations, capital gains, trading profits if turnover is less than £50,000 a year, and up to £30,000 a year of income from renting out property. Over a limit, the club pays tax on the full amount after allowable expenses (GOV.UK: Tax relief for CASCs). The law reduces both limits proportionately for an accounting period shorter than 12 months (CTA 2010 s.662, s.663).

Spending matters for a CASC too. Its exemptions are reduced by a fraction when it has non-qualifying expenditure in the period (CTA 2010 s.666). On the CT600E, a CASC's trading turnover in E50 is exempted under Chapter 9 of Part 13 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 rather than the charity rules, and the investment boxes E180 and E185 apply to charities only (HMRC: information required).

When are a charitable company's CT600 deadlines and penalties?

The same as for any other company. The return is due 12 months after the end of the accounting period it covers, and any Corporation Tax is usually due 9 months and 1 day after the period ends (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns). A notice served late gives at least 3 months from the date it was served (FA 1998 Sch 18 para 14).

Late returns are penalised whether or not tax is due. HMRC charges £200 as soon as a Company Tax Return is late and another £200 at three months, then 10% of the tax still unpaid if the return is 6 months late (18 months after the accounting period ends), rising to 20% if it is 12 months late (2 years after the period ends) (GOV.UK: Late filing penalties). If a return is late 3 times in a row, the £200 penalties rise to £1,000 each. The £200 amounts apply to returns whose filing date is on or after 1 April 2026; before that they were £100 (GOV.UK: Increases to late filing penalties).

A charity has a further reason to file on time: HMRC's CT600E guidance warns that a late return may lead to a loss of tax reliefs as well as financial penalties (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page). Our Corporation Tax deadlines guide works through the dates, and the free Corporation Tax deadline calculator gives them for any period end.

Which charities must file a CT600, and with which pages?

It depends on how the charity is set up, whether HMRC has sent a notice, and whether any income or spending falls outside the exemptions. The decision table applies GOV.UK's and HMRC's rules to nine common situations, including CASCs and charitable trusts.

Two rules sit behind the table. Box E15 is ticked on every CT600E, always with E20 or E25 (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page), and a company chargeable to tax without a notice must tell HMRC within 12 months of the period end (FA 1998 Sch 18 para 2). A trading subsidiary pays tax on its income and profits like an ordinary limited company (GOV.UK: Charities and trading). Where a trade's purpose or an investment's status is unclear, a qualified adviser can look at the details.

Can Taxley file a charitable company's CT600 and CT600E?

Yes, if the charity or CASC is fully exempt. Taxley (taxley.co.uk), UK online software that prepares and files the Company Tax Return (CT600) with HMRC and the annual accounts with Companies House, adds the full CT600E pages to the CT600 and files them with HMRC. It doesn't prepare Charities SORP accounts, or file returns for charities or CASCs that are only partly exempt.

When you start a return, you tick that the company is a charity or CASC claiming exemption, and Taxley adds the CT600E. Its CT600E page asks whether the organisation is a charity or a CASC, its references, the E20 or E25 claim, income and spending, assets and legacies. Before paying, you confirm that all income and gains are applied to charitable purposes. If E25 applies, Taxley stops: the return is saved and you aren't charged. Otherwise Taxley files nil chargeable profits under the exemption and sets box 4 to code 8 for a charity.

Accounts are the main limit to weigh. A charity's return can't be filed without accounts, and charities can't use micro-entity accounts (Companies Act 2006 s.384B), so a charity's return comes with Taxley's small-company accounts under FRS 102 Section 1A, for £139. A CASC pays £49.95 with micro-entity accounts or £139 with small-company accounts. For a CASC that is a company, once the return is paid and the accounts are finished, Taxley files those accounts at Companies House, live since 28 September 2026; you need the company's 6-character authentication code.

Taxley doesn't prepare accounts under the Charities SORP. The Charity Commission says a charitable company's accruals accounts must comply with the SORP, which is SORP 2026 for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026 (Charity Commission: rules for charitable companies). So a charitable company normally files its own SORP accounts at Companies House, not Taxley's, and should check with whoever prepares or examines its accounts before sending HMRC accounts that aren't prepared under the SORP. Taxley also doesn't file anything with the Charity Commission, make repayment claims through Charities Online, or handle audited accounts. Take the 30-second check to see whether Taxley fits your company, or see what each plan includes.

Frequently asked questions

Does a charity with no income need to file a CT600?

Only if HMRC sends a notice to deliver one. A charity with no tax to pay files only when asked. If it does file, it ticks box E15 on the CT600E even though it had no income or gains in the period (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page).

Does the CT600E reclaim Gift Aid?

No. Gift Aid, and tax deducted from other income such as bank interest, is reclaimed through HMRC's Charities Online service, not on the CT600E. The only repayment box on the CT600E is E45, ticked if the charity over-claimed tax in the period (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page).

Does a charitable company also file accounts at Companies House?

Yes. GOV.UK says a charity that is a limited company must also send annual accounts to Companies House (GOV.UK: Charities and tax). That is separate from the Company Tax Return and from the information a registered charity sends to the Charity Commission each year.

Who signs a CASC's CT600E?

HMRC's guidance says any person authorised to do so may sign for the company, except where a liquidator or administrator has been appointed. For a community amateur sports club, the treasurer should sign (HMRC: Completing the CT600E page).

General information, not personalised tax or accounting advice.