An increase to 50% is called for

Gift Aid should be increased to 50% during the current crisis, a group of charities have said.

In an open letter published 15 April, the enterprise and youth-focused charities warns that the £750m package to support charities affected by the coronavirus pandemic, announced by the chancellor Rishi Sunak last week, was not enough.

They also called for the introduction of a charitable coronavirus job retention scheme, allowing charities to claim 80% of staff wages from the government, without require staff members to be furloughed.

It would mean charities could “retain staff and allow them to continue delivering vital charitable work”, the letter says.

The letter says: “The government must act now. Without the critical support that charities provide, this crisis will cast an even longer shadow on people’s lives.”

Gift Aid allows charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) to claim from HMRC, the basic rate of tax their donors have paid. It increases the value of donations by 25%.

Signatories include Oliver Pawle, chair of the Centre for Entrepreneurs, and include Rita Chadha, chief executive of the SCC, Helen Marshall, chief executive of Brook, Kevin Munday, chief executive of City Year UK, Sharon Davies, chief executive of Young Enterprise, Vidhya Alakeson, chief executive of Power to Change, and the Labour MP Rosie Cooper.