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Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill

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This Bill was introduced to Parliament on 14 September 2016, making changes to improve the gift aid small donations scheme, following a consultation held between April and July 2016, and technical amendments to the tax-free childcare scheme.

This Bill was introduced to Parliament on 14 September 2016, making changes to improve the gift aid small donations scheme, following a consultation held between April and July 2016, and technical amendments to the tax-free childcare scheme.

Reforms to the gift aid small donations scheme are intended to simplify and increase access to the scheme, particularly for smaller and newer charities. The changes include:

  • removing the two-year eligibility rule and the two-in-four year claims rule, which will allow newly-formed charities to access the scheme;
  • allowing a charity, or group of charities, to claim for small donations totalling more than £8,000 where they have more than one community building (the maximum claim for a charity with one community building will be £8,000);
  • widening the community buildings rules to allow a charity, or group of charities, to claim whichever is the more beneficial of either: up to £8,000 of ‘community building amounts’ in the form of small donations made in the local authority area in which each community building is located; or up to £8,000 small donations made anywhere in the UK;
  • allowing small donations made by contactless payment to qualify from 6 April 2017.

Amendments to the tax-free childcare scheme include:

  • allowing the standard three-month entitlement period to be varied by up to two months (currently one month); and
  • a power to make regulations requiring applications for review of HMRC decisions to be made digitally.

Second reading is scheduled for 11 October.

Issue: 1324
Categories: News
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