CTG Newsletter – 20 June 2017
CTG meeting in Birmingham – presentation slides
CTG, in partnership with BDO, held a charity tax update session yesterday in Birmingham. The presentation included update on a range of topical developments including Brexit, Gift Aid, VAT, business rates and Making Tax Digital. The presentation slides can be accessed here.
Following other recent meetings in Leeds and Cambridge, CTG is considering potential venues for further meetings in the autumn. We would welcome feedback from members (to info@charitytaxgroup.org.uk) on other cities in which they would welcome charity tax updates.
Definition of a ‘sport’ for VAT purposes – AG opinion
Advocate General Szpunar has opined that the card game, Bridge, (more specifically Duplicate Contract Bridge) should be regarded as a ‘sport’ for the purposes of Group 10, schedule 9, VATA, and thus supplies of facilities to play bridge should be exempt from VAT where all the other relevant conditions are met. CTG’s Technical Adviser Graham Elliott has written a short commentary on the Opinion here.
HMRC publishes new Social Investment Tax Relief guidance
HMRC has published guidance for charities and social enterprises using the Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) scheme in order to raise money to support their trading activity. The guidance sets out the eligibility criteria for organisations looking to apply, as well as giving helpful details on how to apply and how the investment itself must be used in order to be eligible for tax relief.
Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting and e-books
At the meeting the Council was unable to reach an agreement on VAT rates for electronic publications as well as on the reverse charge mechanism. The Council needs unanimity to adopt these directives.
Separately Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Custom, has responded to a European Parliament question on the scope of the proposal to extend reduced rates to e-books:
Proposal COM(2016) 758 final(1) intends to allow Member States to apply reduced VAT rates to books, newspapers and periodicals independently of their format. However, Member States would not be obliged to apply reduced rates to books, newspapers or periodicals and could also restrict the application of reduced rates to certain books, newspapers or periodicals.
In line with the subsidiarity principle, the proposal aims at granting more flexibility to Member States. According to the proposal, Member States would generally be authorised to apply a reduced rate to all books, newspapers and periodicals on all means of support, either physical or electronic, including audio books and supplies on the basis of subscription models.
In this regard, the only restriction in the proposal concerns supplies that predominantly consist of music and video content, which could not benefit from a reduced rate.
Cup Trust disciplinary cases
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced the outcome of the disciplinary cases in connection with its investigation into The Cup Trust, a UK registered charity. The FRC investigations relate to the establishment and operation of the charity and related tax planning issues, and the preparation and audit of the financial statements for the years ended 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011.
Consultations and case law tracker
CTG will be preparing responses to a number of important consultations over the next few months. Our consultation responses rely on input from members and we would encourage you to send us your thoughts, and where relevant submit your own consultation response. The deadlines for forthcoming consultations are outlined below. Please send your feedback via the relevant consultation page on the CTG website or to info@charitytaxgroup.org.uk.
CTG’s VAT case law tracker can be accessed here.
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CTG Commentaries
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CTG website
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