The exclusion of many charity memberships from the DMCCA subscription rules will be welcome news for those charities eligible for the exclusion, helping to preserve both existing membership models and the availability of Gift Aid, subject to the normal donor benefit rules.
However, some charitable memberships will remain within the scope of the DMCCA where they do not meet the conditions for the exclusion. For those charities, questions have remained about the long-term availability of Gift Aid on membership subscriptions.
HMRC has recently advised CTG that it intends to remove the “interim” status from section 3.13.4 of their guidance. This should provide greater certainty that if a charity’s memberships remain subject to the DMCCA it can continue to claim Gift Aid on eligible membership subscriptions, provided the normal conditions for Gift Aid are met.