CTG Newsletter – 22 May 2017

Retail Gift Aid – end of year letters to be sent by 31 May 2017

For charities or their trading subsidiaries using the ‘Method A’ process for applying retail Gift Aid, or for trading subsidiaries using ‘Method B’, this is a reminder that end-of-year letters/emails need to be sent out to donors by 31 May 2017.

These letters should inform donors of the total net proceeds raised from the sale of their goods during the year. Letters should also ask donors to contact the charity within 21 days if they do not wish to donate the net proceeds over the agreed threshold, or if they have not paid sufficient Income and/or Capital Gains Tax to cover the Gift Aid to be claimed back by the charity, or if their contact details have changed. Further information including template letters can be found here.

Please note that this is NOT relevant for charities and trading subsidiaries that use the Standard Method for applying Retail Gift Aid.

CTG website

In the two months since the CTG Tax Conference, the following pages on the website have received the most visits. Different tax issues will be relevant to different organisations, but it may be useful for you to see what issues have been most topical for CTG members.

	Page Title	Type
1	Donations and grants – VAT treatment	Tax Map page
2	Off-payroll working: Major changes from April 2017	Commentary
3	Common Reporting Standard	Tax Map page
4	Membership subscriptions – VAT	Tax Map page
5	Corporate sponsorship compared to donations – VAT	Tax Map page
6	Education and vocational training – VAT exemption	Tax Map page
7	Raffles and auctions – Gift Aid	Tax Map page
8	HMRC audits/tax reviews	News
9	Donated goods – VAT zero rating	Tax Map page
10	VAT – Supplies related to education – Brockenhurst College	Commentary
11	Filing charity trading subsidiary tax returns and charity accounts	Commentary
12	Advertising – VAT zero rating	Tax Map page
13	CTG Tax Conference 2017 – Presentations and feedback	Meeting
14	Business v Non-business apportionment	Tax Map page
15	Fundraising events – VAT exemption	Tax Map page
16	CTG Regional Meeting – Leeds	Meeting
17	Membership subscriptions – Gift Aid	Tax Map page
18	Longridge on the Thames VAT case – implications for charities	Commentary
19	Update on the Adecco temporary workers VAT case	Commentary
20	The position of deeds of covenant	Tax Map page

During this period the documents most downloaded from the CTG website were the HMRC Charities Risk Review template and the 2016-17 Annual Review.

CTG is in the process of updating the content on the website and would welcome feedback from members on any tax issues on which it would be useful to have additional information and/or links to more detailed HMRC guidance. Let us know at info@charitytaxgroup.org.uk.

Do you have colleagues/friends in other charities that would benefit from receiving CTG’s newsletters? If so, please share this link to a page with full details about membership.

Charity and Observer Members are reminded that their membership is on an organisational basis and that there is no limit of the number of subscribers to the website per organisation. If you think a colleague would benefit from getting access to the website and newsletters directly, please encourage them to register online at www.charitytaxgroup.org.uk/join-us/ selecting your organisation from the drop-down box.

Meetings tracker

19 June 2017 (Birmingham) – Charity tax updates seminar
20 June 2017 (London) – Observer Member meeting [Observer Members only]
4 July 2017 (London) – Gift Aid practical issues working group [Charities only]

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.

Ongoing – Insurance Premium Tax survey (CTG)
Ongoing – Discretionary Charity Business Rates Relief (CTG)
11 June 2017 – Making Tax Digital: sanctions for late submission and late payment (HMRC)
30 June 2017 – VAT review (Office for Tax Simplification)
10 July 2017 – Taxation of employee expenses call for evidence (HMRC)

CTG’s VAT case law tracker can be accessed here.

CTG Newsletter Archive

Members can catch up on CTG’s recent newsletters using the links below:

CTG Commentaries

Read our expert commentary pieces and leave your comments and queries:

Please contact us at info@charitytaxgroup.org.uk if you would be interested in contributing a commentary piece.