Following last summer’s Call for Evidence on simplification of the Gift Aid Donor Benefit rules, HM Treasury has launched a formal consultation on possible reform options. CTG’s response to the Call for Evidence can be read here.

The first proposal suggests removing the monetary thresholds altogether; either relying on a calculation of the amount of donations on which Gift Aid can be claimed by deducting the cost of providing Donor Benefits from a charity’s gross donation receipts, or reforming the regulations to apply the split payments rule across all Gift Aid claims.

The second proposal suggests retaining the principle of monetary thresholds but reducing their number from three to one. The remaining threshold would be expressed in terms of the value of the benefit as a percentage of the associated donation, up to the prescribed maximum aggregate benefit value. Only one of these two options could be progressed.

Additional simplifications were a disregard for low-value benefits, the legislation of Extra Statutory Concessions – the split payments, averaging method and literature concessions – and the removal of the lifetime benefits rule.

One outcome of the consultation may be that the status quo is largely maintained, and separately there is a firm commitment to reviewing the guidance available (both in terms of content [including work on the interpretation of the in consequence rule] and accessibility [in terms of navigating gov.uk]). There is also scope to suggest alternative proposals, so long as they fall within the parameters of the consultation.

CTG will be assessing the reform proposals in detail in the next few weeks and will be seeking feedback from members through a series of consultation exercises and meetings. The consultation deadline is 12 May 2016 and we would welcome your thoughts on the scope of the proposals.