CTG’s Technical Advisor, Graham Elliott, has written a short new commentary on the LIFE Services Limited (UKUT 0484) Upper Tribunal case, which covers the exemption for welfare services applicable, under UK VAT law, to charities and to state regulated private welfare bodies. HMRC successfully appealed against the First Tier Tribunal’s decision, finding that arguments that fiscal neutrality applied were not sustainable in this case.

Ministerial reshuffle

Andrew Jones MP has been appointed as a new Conservative Party Vice-Chair. We understand from HM Treasury officials that he will therefore be standing down as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (a role which has ministerial responsibility for charity taxation), with his successor likely to be announced later today. The successor will become the 9th Minister responsible for charity taxation since May 2010.

Matt Hancock MP has been confirmed as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, replacing Karen Bradley MP. The Office for Civil Society sits within DCMS. At present Tracey Crouch MP remains as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will be renamed as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The Department has responsibility for business rates policy in England.

APPG meeting on charity taxation

The first meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Charities in 2018 will be looking at charity taxation. The meeting will question whether the current tax treatment of charities is fair, whether more could more be done to help charities with the burden of tax compliance and do we need a new approach to ensure public benefit is best maximised for charities who are dealing in an increasingly digitised world.

Sir Nicholas Montagu, chair of the Charity Tax Commission, and former chair of the Inland Revenue, will discuss the work of the commission, what they hope to achieve, and how the voluntary sector can feed in to their work. Sir Nicholas will be joined by CTG chairman John Hemming. We understand that an academic and HMRC officials will also join the panel.

The meeting will take place on Monday 5 February 2018, 16.00–18.00 in Committee Room 21 of the Houses of Parliament. Interested CTG members can register for this event here.