HMRC has published the charity tax statistics relating to the tax year 2016-17.

The statistics indicate that:

• the total amount of tax relief claimed by charities is provisionally estimated at £3.77bn, which is £50m less than in 2015/16.
• there was a small increase in the amount of Gift Aid claimed by charities, which rose from £1.26bn in 2015/16 to £1.27bn.
• the amount of income tax relief on other charitable income (which can include bank and building society interest, interest from government stocks, income from wayleaves, royalties, estate income and discretionary trust income) reduced from £40m to £10m (having been £20m for a number years beforehand).
• 71,990 charities claimed Gift Aid which is an increase of 1,170 charities on the previous year.
• 150 charities claimed £1m+ and in total claimed £569m, while 50,560 charities claimed <£5k, worth a total of £61m.
• the amount claimed by charities under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme increased to £29m from £26m.
• Charity relief (mandatory and discretionary) from national non-domestic rates increased to £1.87bn from £1.84bn.
• VAT relief for charities remained at £400m a year.
• Stamp duty land tax was worth £220m to charities, which is a £60m decrease on 2015/16.
• Gifts of shares and property were worth £70m, which is identical to the previous year, and payroll giving tax relief was worth £40m, which is consistent with every year since 2011/12
• for individuals, inheritance tax relief in 2016/17 was at £840m, compared with £800m the previous year, and higher-rate relief was up by £20m to £520m.

Detailed commentary by HMRC on the newly published charity tax statistics can be found here.

CTG Chairman John Hemming commented:

“We are pleased to see that Gift Aid income has increased by £10m to £1,270m and that GASDS has increased by £3m to £29m. This shows that efforts to promote Gift Aid have been having a positive effect although more can still be done to maximise these important reliefs. The continued increase in the value of non-domestic rates relief for charities shows the vital importance of the current mandatory and discretionary rate relief and the importance of its continued protection”.