Budget
12 March 2008
Consultation on Gift Aid: the Government's response
Gift Aid is a hugely successful tax relief, which was worth £830 million to charities in 2006-07. However, the Government believes there is even greater scope for charities to claim additional funds through Gift Aid and Budget 2007 announced a consultation with the charitable sector on measures to increase take-up of the relief.
This report outlines the Government's response to the consultation. The Government's policy response to the consultation is provided in section 2 and section 3 provides a recap of the summary of responses published in December 2007.
Throughout the consultation charities were strongly supportive of the Gift Aid system, recognising the benefits of this successful tax relief. Given the importance of minimising administrative burdens for the sector while ensuring predictable income streams for charities, this document sets out the Government's response to the consultation and details announcements on a wide-ranging package of measures, including
- payment of Gift Aid claims at a transitional rate of 22% in 2008-09, 2209-10,and 2010-11;
- major reform to the auditing process;
- a comprehensive programme for bringing more smaller charities into Gift Aid;
- redesign of guidance ; and
- outreach to 5000 new charities a year through the launch of targeted marketing tools.
The consultation raised issues around the Gift Aid system and ways to alter the mechanics of the system to make it easier for some donors to give. These are complex issues that require a better understanding of donor behaviour, and a full assessment of the risks that could arise if alterations were to be made to a currently successful system. The Government will continue to work with donors and charities to develop understanding of donor behaviour and use that to inform further thinking about Gift Aid.
Consultation on Gift Aid: the Government's response is available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website . For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page .
Media links
Related links
- Gift Aid – Administrative Changes and Proposals (HMRC website, opens in a new browser window)
- Latest news and policy updates from the Office of the Third Sector (Cabinet Office website, opens in a new browser window)
Related links
