Budget 2020

Ahead of the UK Government’s March Budget we have sent a written submission to the Chancellor setting out our policy asks.

The last Budget, held back in 2018, saw the introduction of a de-minis for retail Gift Aid end of year letters following lobbying by us and our partners. The non-mandatory de-minis means that year end letters are now only required by HMRC where sales proceeds reach £20 in a single tax year, or every three years whichever comes first.

Our submission highlights the £331 million which charity retail raised for charitable activities in the past year while supporting 26,000 full time jobs and 233,000 volunteering opportunities. Charity retailers also play a vital role in keeping our high streets alive, selling quality goods at affordable prices and reducing the amount of waste generated by UK consumers by extending the lifetime of products through reuse.

Specific policy asks in our submission include:

• Establishing a universal Gift Aid universal declaration database

• Enabling Gift Aid donors to choose to redirect higher and additional tax reliefs to charities

 • Retention of the business rates relief available to charity retailers at the current 80% but consideration of increasing to a mandatory 100%

• Action to ensure that charity shops run via trading subsidiaries are always able to access the 80% mandatory business rates relief

• Tax measures to ensure planned increases to the National Living Wage are sustainable by looking at ways the Government can mitigate higher salary costs potentially by reducing tax burdens on employers

• Prioritising the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes for textiles and bulky furniture

Our proposals for a Gift Aid universal declaration database and allowing higher rate tax payers to redirect full tax relief to the charity that they are donating to, reflect key recommendations in the Charity Tax Commission Report published last year.

Our full Budget submission can be found here.

Jonathan Mail, Head of Public Affairs, Charity Retail Association