Many charities have volunteer fundraising branches.  The records of such branches are often kept manually by local volunteer treasurers.  Annual returns of income and expenses are submitted to the charity. The activities of volunteer fundraising branches may be caught by MTD reporting requirements – even where the underlying income is exempt from VAT.

Following representations by CTG, HMRC has helpfully agreed that charities can record all transactions relating to a single event in a single electronic accounting record.  While this is a helpful relaxation of the strict technical position, it could result in a considerable additional burden where individual branches have multiple events and charities currently only receive an annual return. Discussions continue with HMRC on a pragmatic solution for charities.

A key consideration in this discussion is to what extent to which the income of the volunteer fundraising branches is covered by the fundraising exemption and the extent to which the income is VATable. We would be grateful if you could provide the following details in the box below or by email to info@charitytaxgroup.org.uk:

1. Approx number of fundraising branches
2. Approx total exempt income of fundraising branches
3. Approx total taxable income of fundraising branches
4. Details of the major streams of VATable income (eg sale of Christmas cards, postcards, diaries etc)