From the New Year, starting a new charity will be much simpler. The government has agreed a new one-stop process enabling a voluntary organisation to combine charity and company registration. The Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) is a new legal form for a charity. Applications are open from today, 10th December 2012, and registration will begin on 2nd January 2013 for new charities only. The full guidance has yet to be published, but some details are available on the Charity Commission Website. Watch this space for more details as they become available.