Charities could save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year after a change in how often they have to contact supporters was introduced
Rules around charities having to contact their supporters over Gift Aid have been relaxed.
Following a yearlong campaign, The Charity Retail Association has welcomed plans to limit the amount of Gift Aid letters that organisations have to send out.
Under the previous rules, charities must write to donors of Gift Aided second-hand goods every year to tell them of the proceeds resulting from their donation, no matter how small those proceeds are.
After extensive lobbying by the association and the Charity Tax Group, the Chancellor has accepted that such letters need only be written every three years, provided that the proceeds are less than £20 per year.
Charity Retail Association chief executive Robin Osterley said: “Although this may seem like one of the smaller and less dramatic announcements of the budget, the impact it will have on charities is actually very substantial, saving hundreds of thousands of pounds per year across the charity retail sector, and relieving charities of a considerable administrative burden.
“We are very pleased that our lobbying efforts, together with our partners the Charity Tax Group, have brought about this very beneficial change”.
Charity Tax Group vice-chairman Richard Bray said: “For charities, contacting supporters can be an expensive process in terms of time or money. Many charities have also received negative feedback from donors about them wasting charity resources by sending letters about Gift Aid claims for a small sums.
“These new rules are therefore a very welcome practical change and we are grateful to HMRC for listening to our concerns. We look forward to continuing to work with the Charity Retail Association to make the Retail Gift Aid process as straightforward and effective as possible for charities, donors and HMRC.”
