HMRC have launched a technical consultation: ‘Gift Aid and Intermediaries’ which proposes how the extended involvement of intermediaries should be regulated.
As a result of changes made by Finance Act 2015:
- Donors can claim gift aid on donations they make to charities via intermediaries. This allows, for example, websites to collect donations on behalf of individuals and for the charity to still receive the gift aid. At the moment, donors are required to make a declaration in respect of each charity they donate to via the intermediary.
- From 6 April 2017, donors will be able to make a single declaration per intermediary (a donor authorisation) rather than per charity. It is hoped that this reduction in paperwork for the donor will lead to an increase in gift aided donations.
This technical consultation considers how the change being introduced from 6 April 2017 should be regulated.
Proposals include:
- That the donor will need to agree that their authorisation should last until the end of the tax year; if not then they will have to continue making a declaration for each donation.
- What the donor authorisation should contain.
- Requiring intermediaries to keep records of authorisations available for inspection by HMRC.
- Requiring intermediaries to issue annual statements to donors who use this new process by 31st May after the tax year.
- Penalties of up to £3,000 for non-compliance.
The consultation runs from 10 August 2016 to 5 October 2016.
HMRC are expected to publish their response later this year so that the regulations can come into effect in April 2017. HMRC will also produce further guidance on the role of intermediaries at that time.
Links
Our guide: Gift Aid
Consultation document: Gift Aid and Intermediaries
For further developments see the Finance Act and Bill rolling planner.
Consultation question
The consultation asks a single question; whether the proposed regulations will achieve their desired outcome without causing any unintended issues.
