“Charities don’t pay tax!”

If only things were that simple!

It could be suggested that charities are more likely to be exposed to the impacts of tax and tax administration than commercial companies.

In fact, a charity is likely to suffer tax – paying VAT on its purchases which it may not be able to recover.

A charity may not actually pay any tax on its income or gains, or have to prepare tax returns – but it must meet certain criteria in order to get these exemptions. Charities need to be aware of all conditions and criteria in relation to their tax position, not least meeting HMRC’s definition of a charity.

Below I highlight some of the common taxes that impact charities, as well as some of the reliefs and exemptions available to charities.

1 Income and Gains
Generally, charities are exempt from income, capital gains or corporation tax on their income and gains provided that both the income and the assets are used for charitable purposes.

This applies to most sources of income such as donations, legacies, rental income, income from investments, capital gains, and lottery income.

Money generated from fundraising events also attracts this exemption.

2 Trading
Do charities trade? Yes they do – even if there is also a separate trading subsidiary company. Providing services under contracts, running lotteries, and selling tickets or sponsorship for fundraising events can be classed as trading income.

If these activities are an integrated part of a charity’s objectives (or “primary purpose” as it is known), carried out by the beneficiary, and within certain turnover limits, then the income should be tax free.

Wholly-owned trading subsidiaries are common and allow charities to separate trading activities from their core activities, whilst enjoying the relief available arising from the gifting of the subsidiary’s profits to the charity.

3 Gift Aid
Making a qualifying donation under gift aid provides benefits to both the individual and the charity – the individual obtains basic rate tax relief on the donation at source and the charity reclaims 25% of the gift from HM Revenue & Customs.
The charity must obtain a declaration from the individual confirming certain facts in order to claim the gift aid relief.

The donation must also meet specific criteria – including being from an individual who cannot receive any benefit, in excess of certain limits, from making the donation.

Special conditions on reclaiming gift aid apply to those charities that generate funds through auctions, membership subscriptions, fundraising events, and admissions to view property.

New simplified procedures, the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, came into effect from April 2013, enabling charities to reclaim gift aid on donations of £20 or less, up to an annual maximum of £5,000 per charity, without obtaining individual declarations (with the aim of reducing some of the administrative burden). To qualify, a charity must have existed for at least two years and made a successful gift aid claim within two of the previous four tax years.

4 Corporate Donations
Whereas gift aid provides relief to both donor and charity, there is no direct relief available for the charity when receiving donations from companies. However, the company is able treat a donation as deductible against its own taxable profits.

This also applies to the trading subsidiaries of charities – gifting the profits to the charity eliminates the subsidiary’s tax charge on its trading profits (although such a donation cannot create a loss to offset against non-trading profits). The donation must be physically paid over within nine months after the end of the accounting period to which it relates.

The charity must use the donation towards its charitable purposes.

Summary

UK tax legislation is complex and ever-changing. Navigating this maze can be a confusing, and even overwhelming, experience. In the second part of this blog, I look at 5 further taxes and reliefs available for charities.

Please do get in contact if I can assist your organisation make the most of the reliefs available whilst remaining fully compliant.