Gift Aid and digital giving
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
This document summarises the responses received to this consultation and sets out the proposed actions the government will take as a result. Those include encouraging Gift Aid take up on eligible donations through customer research on the Gift Aid Declaration and an outreach programme to help small charities, and enabling donations to different charities via a single intermediary to be covered by a single declaration. The government plans to use primary legislation to set out a new framework for this intermediary involvement which can support a range of different models, with the details being set out in regulations.
The government has carefully considered the responses made to the consultation document. The suggestions, concerns and criticisms received during the consultation process will be fully taken into account in the continuing development of policy and drafting of legislation. The government will continue to engage with stakeholders over the coming months to inform that process.
Original consultation
Consultation description
As announced at Budget 2013, the government has published a consultation paper on how to increase the level of Gift Aid take up on digital donations, such as those made online or by text message, as well as other improvements to Gift Aid.
This government recognises the important work of charities in our society and has improved the support charities receive through the tax system with a variety of reliefs. Gift Aid alone was worth over £1 billion to charities last year, and with the rapid growth in digital donations we want to ensure that Gift Aid take up remains high.
The consultation seeks views on how intermediaries might collect Gift Aid on behalf of charities and how the wording of the Gift Aid declaration might be improved. It also invites thoughts on a database of universal Gift Aid declarations and wider improvements to Gift Aid.
HM Treasury and HMRC officials will also be holding a series of consultation meetings over the summer to explore the proposals in more detail with charities, intermediaries and their representative bodies. Subject to space constraints officials will try to meet with interested stakeholders. Stakeholders interested in taking part in these discussions should contact us by email.
Documents
Updates to this page
Last updated 14 April 2014 + show all updates
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Consultation response published
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First published.