Archived news - Charities 2006

19 December

Charities Legislation
The links to charities legislation have been updated to include references to Finance Act 2006.

14 December

Community amateur Sports Clubs
The detailed guidance notes and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Community Amateur Sports Clubs have been updated.

Oral Gift Aid declarations
The detailed guidance notes for charities at chapter 3 have been updated in respect of oral declarations to clarify charity’s record keeping requirements.

28 November

Gifts of goods to charity shops - Gift Aid
In some circumstances a charity may offer to sell goods on your behalf in the hope that you will donate the proceeds of the sale to them. It is the proceeds of the sale which can be Gift Aided, not the gift of goods.

24 November

Trading and Business Activities
The detailed guidance note on Trading by charities has been replaced by notes on Trading and business activities, which covers both tax and VAT issues. The notes have been extensively re-written to incorporate VAT guidance and guidance about new measures introduced in Finance Act 2006 concerning mixed primary and non primary purpose trading.

Key information - customer guides
A new set of customer guides has been added to the charities pages aimed at providing key information and guidance about the most common areas of concern for charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors.
The customer guides have been written in plain English with a customer focused structure and layout.
The existing detailed guidance notes are still available for more complex or technical matters.

9 June

Updated guidance about audit of Charity repayment claims

The detailed guidance notes for charities about the audit of charity repayment claims have been updated and improved.

We are in the process of improving all of our on-line guidance for charities. Some charities have highlighted our Audit procedures as an area where revised guidance would be helpful.

This updated guidance is a direct response to that feedback and deals with the specific concerns raised. It has been produced in consultation with the Charities Tax Reform Group (CTRG) - we are grateful for their valuable input.

We always value feedback from our customers and wherever possible address any concerns. If you have comments or suggestions with about the guidance HMRC Charities provides, please contact us with full details.

11 May

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator ( OSCR)

With effect from 26th April 2006 OSCR assumed responsibility for the registration and regulation of charities in Scotland.

HMRC (Charities) will continue to be responsible for the administration of charity tax reliefs for charities and donors throughout the United Kingdom. Charity guidance relating to direct and indirect taxation and other sources of help can be found on the charities pages.

28 April

Compliance pilot exercise
details of a pilot to handle charity compliance differently.

31 March

Budget 2006 - Draft anti-avoidance legislation
Budget 2006 announced a package of measures to protect charitable reliefs from abuse. We are today publishing draft clauses to help you understand what the new legislation means for you.

6 March 2006

Charities and Donors
HMRC charities have restructured the Charities and Donors guidance with a number of enhancements to make it easier to use.

5 January 2006

Construction Industry Scheme
The introduction of the new Construction Industry Scheme has been deferred until April 2007. Charities currently operating the existing scheme will therefore need to continue applying the old scheme rules until April 2007.