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Charity or Registered Society?

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Herald, May 23, 2020.

  1. Herald

    Herald Member

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    Apologies if this general question has been raised and answered elsewhere but a search only revealed fairly random results related to specific circumstances and no clear comparisons.

    The recent thread about the Ecclesiastical Movement for Good Grants led me to look for a Railway Centre's Charity number at which point I realised that several heritage bodies are actually incorporated as Industrial and Provident Societies, now known as Registered Societies. These are regulated and registered by the Financial Conduct Authority rather than the Charity Commission but can enjoy the same tax advantages provided they meet HMRC requirements and include in their articles things like asset locks whereby in the event of winding up the assets must pass to organisations with similar aims and purposes. Whilst it is no longer possible to set up new Industrial and Provident Societies the current legislation allows for setting up Community Benefit Companies.

    I'm wondering if there are clear views about whether the Community Benefit Structure (as recently set up by Vintage Trains) would actually be better than the mix of PLC's and Charities present on many railways.
     

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