What does a Scottish charity have to submit to OSCR each year?

England and Wales: not applicable — this step is Scotland-only; see Step 7, Complete the annual return. Scotland: this page sets out the position in full. Northern Ireland: not applicable — see Step 9, Complete the CCNI annual monitoring return.

Is there an income floor for the OSCR annual return?

No. Scotland has no income floor for annual reporting. Not a low one — none. The s.44 duty applies to every charity on the Scottish Charity Register whatever its income. So a dormant charity that received nothing all year still files a full set with OSCR.

Some trustees read English guidance and look for the figure below which they can stop. No such figure exists. Any threshold you have seen belongs to a different jurisdiction. This page assumes you have already gathered your annual return data.

Documents to submit to OSCR

Each year a Scottish charity submits these documents to OSCR:

• The online annual return
• The statement of account
• The trustees’ annual report
• The independent report on the accounts, where one is required — which you will know once you determine your external scrutiny requirement

Since 5 March 2026, the independent report has been a document in its own right. It is not bundled into the accounts. The rule is s.44(1)(ca) of the 2005 Act, inserted by the 2023 Act. Treat it as a separate deliverable when you are chasing your examiner.

When is the OSCR annual return due?

The OSCR annual return is due 9 months from the end of the financial year, under reg 5 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. That is a month tighter than England and Wales. This matters if you are registered in both: the Scottish date governs your annual compliance calendar. For a charity’s first return, see when the first annual return is due.

What happens if a Scottish charity does not file accounts?

Suppose a Scottish charity fails to send its statement of account to OSCR by the due date. OSCR can then appoint a suitably qualified person to prepare it. The charity trustees are then personally, jointly and severally liable for the cost. The power is in the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, s.45(2) and (4).

That is a materially different kind of exposure from anything in England and Wales. There, a late filing damages your register entry and your standing. But it does not by itself reach into a trustee’s own bank account. It is the single most important thing a Scottish trustee should know about this step.

How accounts are filed in each regime is covered where you file your accounts. Trustee liability more generally is covered in am I personally liable as a charity trustee.

How the OSCR annual return form is structured

The form has three sections: charity details, financial position, and selecting the charity’s legal form. Expandable blocks in the financial section give guidance question by question.

This guidance does not walk through every question, for one reason: there is no single question set. The form branches by legal form and by other circumstances. So the questions you see are not the questions another charity sees. Any list that claims to be “the OSCR annual return questions” has been written by someone who saw one charity’s version of the form.

A second complication is that OSCR has revised some questions. Two versions of the guidance are live at once. Which one applies depends on whether your financial year ends before or after a cut-off date that secondary sources give as 30 June 2025; check it against OSCR’s own guidance. Check which version you are reading before you rely on it.

The trustees’ annual report that goes with the return is covered from what the trustees’ annual report has to include onwards. A charity also registered in Northern Ireland has the CCNI annual monitoring return to complete as well.

Common mistake: assuming an income floor exists

England and Wales has one. Scotland has none. A dormant Scottish charity with zero income still files everything, every year.