Archived news - Charities 2005

1 November 2005

Gift Aid
Changes to the regulations concerning Gift Aid declarations came into force on 1 November. Revised guidance replacing 3.10 - 3.15 and 3.37.3 on Gift Aid declarations is now available.

11 October 2005

Important Reminder for Those Donating to Help Victims of the Asia Quake

Gift Aid

Using Gift Aid means that every pound donated is worth £1.28 to the relief agency. So if you're donating by phone be sure and tell the operator that you want your donation to attract Gift Aid and if you're using the Disasters Emergency Committee donations website please remember to tick the Gift Aid box.

This is because when individual UK taxpayers give money to UK charities using Gift Aid those charities can claim tax back from HM Revenue & Customs. The donor just needs to give the charity a simple declaration saying that they want Gift Aid to apply to their donation. The charity can claim back an amount equal to basic rate income tax on the donation - at no extra cost to the donor.

Gift Aid is a tax relief provided by the Government to encourage and support charitable giving.

Changes to Gift Aid regulations (PDF 87K)
HMRC has today laid regulations amending the requirements in relation to Gift Aid declarations. The regulations will remove the requirement in relation to oral declarations for charities to send a written statement to the donor giving the donor a cooling of period in which to cancel the declaration.

This measure will save individual charities thousands of pounds, freeing up more money for charitable aims.

Guidance on the new requirements will be available once the regulations have come into force

20 September 2005

Gift Aid on donations that attract a right of free admission to charity property
Guidance has been added covering the new provisions for Gift Aid on charity visitor donations. These notes include detailed guidance on the application of the new legislation along with guidance on the VAT position.

9 August 2005

Charity Nominee forms

Three new forms have been introduced this week to replace the old style charity nominee form.

This change reflects a deregulatory measure introduced in response to sector requests for change and the finalised forms reflect input from the sector.

Each of the new forms can be used by either as charity or a CASC.

The main changes reflected in these forms are as follow: -

First, charities or CASCs can now, if they wish, nominate persons other than an official (i.e. trustees, directors or management committee members) to sign claims for and/or receive repayments on their behalf.
Form ChN1 (PDF 83K) is designed for this purpose
Second, Charities or CASCs can now nominate an agency to act on their behalf.
Form ChN2 (PDF 39K) is designed for this purpose
A nominated agency can then authorise specific employees to sign repayment claims and/or claim repayment in the name of the charities or CASCs which have nominated that agency to act on their behalf.
Form ChN2A (PDF 28K) is designed for this purpose.

The ultimate responsibility for the accuracy and validity of any claim made in their name will, however, remain with the charity or CASC concerned. Charity or CASC officials should therefore give careful consideration as to the suitability of any person or body they authorise to act on their behalf.

Existing nominations do not have to be renewed but at any new (additional or amended) nominations should be made on the new forms.

In some circumstances (i.e. when one official is nominating another official as signatory) the old form will be acceptable until April 2006.

04 February 2005

Guide to tax incentives for corporate giving

The Treasury and Home Office have jointly produced a guide to corporate giving providing businesses with an overview of the range of tax incentives available for corporate community involvement. It combines explanation, best practice examples and pointers to further information on the tax incentives available for businesses who want to:

Give money to charity
Sponsor a charity
Give shares or land to charity
Give some of their trading stock or equipment to charity
Second one of their employees to work for a charity
Encourage their employees to volunteer
Encourage their employees to donate to charity
Invest in improving the urban environment
Invest in a disadvantaged community

26 January 2005

Payroll Giving Grants

The Home Office have today launched a new UK-wide grants programme to encourage employers to set up a Payroll Giving scheme. The programme, which will be administered and promoted by the Institute of Fundraising and Business in the Community will:

give employers a cash incentive of up to £500 and,
match the first £10 donated by each employee, every month, for a period of six months.

The grants will be available to employers with fewer than 500 staff, who set up a scheme between April 2004 and December 2006. By setting up Payroll Giving, employers enable employees to give to charity straight from their gross salary and to get immediate tax relief of up to 40% of each donation.

Guidance materials and further information are available by calling 0845 602 6786

21 January 2005

Gift Aid and admissions
The Inland Revenue has today published draft legislation in relation to Gift Aid and gifts to charity that attract a right of admission to a charity. Comments are required on the draft legislation by 18 February.

17 January 2005

Due to a technical fault the IR Charities Helpline (0845 3020203) was not available on Monday 17th January and callers will either have obtained an engaged tone or been offered an answerphone. We are working to remedy this fault and it is hoped that normal service will be resumed as soon as possible on Tuesday 18th January

6 January 2005

Giving tax effectively
Did you know that by taking some simple steps when giving money to charity you could make your donation go much further?