Reforming Charity Tax
The Charity Tax Commission (the Commission) was established by The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) last year in order to undertake a full review of the charity tax system (including business rates relief, Gift Aid and VAT relief). The last review was performed over 20 years ago and since then the sector has grown and changed significantly. The Commission are looking to hear from anyone affected by the charity tax system and would like their input on how it could be improved helping charities better serve their beneficiaries.
The Commission state they ‘need to make practical, evidence-based recommendations that will be taken seriously by policy makers, focussed on increasing the effectiveness of the spend that goes on current reliefs’.
Consultation closing deadline: 6 July 2018.
Guidance: goo.gl/98hpVb
Draft Guidance for Charities that are Connected with Non-Charitable Organisations
When your charity has trading subsidiaries or has connections with other non-charitable organisations such as social enterprises, then the trustees must manage the close connection properly in order to comply with charity law and to fulfil their legal duties and maintain public trust.
The CCEW has noted in a number of recent case reports that the handling of these relationships by trustees has been an area of concern. The draft guidance is designed to help charities benefit from appropriate connections with non-charitable organisations, while preserving and protecting what is special about the charity. The regulators want to help trustees make decisions that promote their charity’s best interests, and that encourage public trust in charities more widely. It consists of a summary, detailed guidance and a checklist for charities to use.
The consultation has closed.
Guidance: goo.gl/kDoqZ2
Annual Return for 2018
The CCEW ran a consultation regarding the next version of the Annual Return (AR18) which will apply to charities’ financial years starting on or after 1 January 2018. The CCEW proposes to change how they gather key information including:
- changes to registered details will no longer be included in the annual return and instead charities will need to use the new Update Charity Details service throughout the year
- the annual return will be limited to gathering financial and regulatory information that is relevant to each charity.
This approach will enable CCEW to make the annual return more proportionate and to remove regulatory burden.
The consultation has closed.
This publication has been prepared by Robinson Reed Layton LLP. It is to be treated as a general guide only and is not intended to be a comprehensive statement of the law or represent specific tax advice. No liability is accepted for the opinions it contains, or for any errors or omissions. All rights reserved.