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.
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.
