CTG Newsletter – 21 October 2016

Small Charitable Donations Bill 2016 – Committee Stage

The Public Bill Committee met to scrutinise the Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payment Bill on Tuesday 18 October 2016.

The CTG briefing to the Committee (which can be read here) welcomed the Bill, but called on the Government to take this opportunity to clarify a number of points of uncertainty in relation to the community buildings rules and to consider the removal of the matching threshold in favour of a simpler requirement for a charity to have claimed any Gift Aid in that year (or the year before).

Unfortunately, the Government did not agree to any further changes to the Bill at this stage, although we will be asking for further consideration at Report Stage.

Apprenticeship Levy

Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke MP has responded to a written question from Anna Turley MP (Lab, Redcar), confirming that steps are being taken to make sure that the Apprenticeship Levy is ready for implementation in April 2017.

Full details of CTG’s recent correspondence with the Minister responsible for the Apprenticeship Levy can be found here.

UK tax gap statistics published

The UK tax gap fell in 2014 to 2015 to its lowest-ever level of 6.5% (equivalent to £36bn) according to new HMRC statistics.  HMRC has indicated that this reduction (from a high of 8.3% in 2005/2006) highlights the positive impact that digital transformation (in particular the move to RTI and VAT online) is having in making it easier for people to pay the right amount of tax. Further information can be found here.

The 2013 study by the National Audit Office (NAO) on Gift Aid and reliefs on donations suggested that the amount of Gift Aid claimed ineligibly was £55m, approximately 5% of the overall claim at the time. These concerns about the tax gap have resulted in a review of the Gift Aid declaration and efforts to ensure that donors are aware of their responsibilities to ensure they have paid sufficient tax to cover their Gift Aid claim. CTG believes that while it is very important that the Tax Gap is reduced and ineligible Gift Aid claims are prevented, it also remains important that any associated regulations are proportionate and do not restrict the vast majority of law abiding charities.

Orchestra Tax relief guidance published

HMRC has published new guidance on the Orchestra Tax Relief. The guidance note also provides updated details on the state aid treatment of this relief and the Theatre Tax Relief. Further information can be found here.

Northern Ireland business rates review

Local Charities Day (16 December 2016)