A guide for registered subscribers.
What's new in Gift Aid 2016/17?
Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme
From April 2016:
- Charities can claim a top-up payment on up to £8,000 of small cash donations per year (up from £5,000)
- Charities can also claim a top-up payment on up to £8,000 of small donations collected during charitable activities which take place in a community building (up from £5,000)
Proposed changes:
On 20 April 2016 HMRC opened a consultation ‘Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme’. Following this consultation HMRC have announced that they will make the following changes, see Consultation response:
- Remove the requirement for the charity to have been registered for two years and to have made gift aid claims in two out of the last four years.
- Include contactless payments within GASDS.
- Proceed with proposals to require charities to claim either under the main allowance or the community buildings allowance, but not both.
Gift Aid declarations
- HMRC published new model declarations for one-off donations, multiple donations and sponsored events in October 2015.
- The new declarations:
- Are shorter, removing unnecessary references to VAT and Council Tax
- Contain a clearer demonstration of the value of making a Gift Aid claim.
- Includes new wording to make clear the responsibility of donors to pay sufficient tax to cover their donation and their responsibility to pay any difference.
Gift Aid declarations and partnerships
From April 2016:
- When a partnership makes a donation under Gift Aid each individual partner must make their own Gift Aid declaration, specifying the amount of each partner’s share of the whole donation.
- Previously, one partner could make a Gift Aid declaration on behalf of all partners if given power to do so under deed.
Gift Aid donor benefits
- A consultation ‘Simplifying the Gift Aid donor benefits rules’ ran from 18 February to 12 May 2016.
- A further consultation ‘Simplifying the Gift Aid donor benefits rules: response to the consultation and further consultation’ was published on 11 November 2016 and will close on 3 February 2017.
- HMRC are proposing the following changes:
- Legislating the extra-statutory concessions for split payments, averaging, literature and lifetime benefit.
- Reforming the relevant value test.
- Introducing a low value disregard.
Gift Aid intermediaries
Up to 5 April 2016:
- Donors can claim gift aid on donations made to charities via intermediaries.
- The donor must make a gift aid declaration in respect of each charity.
From 6 April 2017:
- Donors can continue to claim gift aid on donations made to charities via intermediaries.
- The donor can make just one gift aid donation per intermediary instead of per charity.
- HMRC ran a technical consultation ‘Gift Aid and Intermediaries’ from 10 August to 5 October 2016, with draft legislation, proposing how this should be regulated, including:
- The form and content of intermediary declarations
- Record keeping requirements for intermediaries and charities
- An annual statement to be provided to donors by beneficiaries
- Penalties for non-compliance
