Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill — Regulations on Local Branches and Groups — 15 Nov 2016 at 16:00

The majority of MPs voted against allowing branches and local groups of certain organisations to be treated as separate bodies for the purposes of the cap applying to the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.^[1]

Gift Aid is the scheme under which charities can reclaim any basic rate income tax paid on a gift from HMRC.

The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme enables charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs to claim a Gift Aid style top-up payment on small donations up to £20 in circumstances where it is not practical or feasible to obtain a Gift Aid declaration.^[1]

At the time of writing the cap was £8,000 of donations of up to £20.^[1]

MPs were considering the Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill^[2].

The proposed new clause rejected in this vote was titled: Regulations on local branches and groups and stated:

• ‘(1) The Small Charitable Donations Act 2012 is amended as set out in subsections (2) and (3).
• (2) After section 5(1) (general provisions on meaning of “connected”), insert—
• “(1A) This section is subject to the provisions of regulations made under section 5A (regulations on local branches and groups).”
• (3) After section 5, insert the following—
• “5A Regulations on local branches and groups
• (1) The Treasury shall by regulations prescribe organisations in which local or regional branches or groups may not be considered to be connected for the purposes of sections 4 and 5.
• (2) The Treasury shall publish the first set of draft regulations made under subsection (1) no later than 31 October 2017.
• (3) Before publishing draft regulations under this section, the Treasury shall consult—
• (a) the Scout Association;
• (b) the Guide Association;
• (c) the Combined Cadet Force Association; and
• (d) such other organisations as appear to the Treasury to be relevant.”

The rejected clause was accompanied by an explanatory statement which said:

• This new clause requires the Treasury to identify organisations with local or regional branch or group structures in order that those local and regional branches or groups can be separately eligible under the scheme, and to consult certain organisations about the regulations in draft.

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• [1] Explanatory notes to the Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill
• [2] Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill

Debate in Parliament |