CTG has published its 2016-17 Annual Review, which focuses on the work that the organisation has done to extend its reach in the last year, particularly through the launch of its new website.

Extending our reach: CTG Annual Review – 2016-17

Extending our reach

For many people and organisations across the country, this year has been characterised by uncertainty. Since the result of the EU referendum in June 2016, a great deal has been said about Brexit and what it means but very little is definite.

Through the numerous challenges that charities continue to face, whether at a national or international level, CTG’s priority has remained to work for an improvement in their tax position to help them cope – and 2016 has been a year to be proud of! I hope this Review will serve to give a flavour of the increasing extent of our work – both in terms of the topics that we look to tackle and in terms of the charities and areas that we represent.

The value of our work continues to be recognised by the Government, with CTG having already being consulted by senior HMRC and HM Treasury officials to discuss the process of Brexit and the importance of protecting valuable existing reliefs. I was pleased to meet the new Minister responsible for charity tax to continue this conversation and I am delighted that she is addressing our conference this year.

I am particularly proud of the hard work we have done in a number of other areas. In 2016, CTG secured provisional agreement for an exemption for charitable companies from a new 45% corporation tax rate on amounts taxed as restitution interest. We spearheaded the campaign to secure changes to GASDS through what is now the Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Act 2017, resulting in the removal of the Gift Aid history requirement and the extension of the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme to contactless payments. This simplification should see a significant number of charities – particularly smaller ones – begin to benefit from this relief.

Looking forward, CTG is working with HMRC on revised VAT guidance for grants, contracts and sponsorship, which we hope to see published in the near future. We will also be joining forces once again with the Charities’ Property Association and the Churches’ Legislation Advisory Service to make the argument for maintaining the charitable exemption from whatever may be suggested as a replacement for the Community Infrastructure Levy.

In this Review, we have also taken the opportunity to highlight some of the key facts and figures from the first year of our new website. With almost 1,000 accounts opened since its launch, the website and its integrated Charity Tax Map are enabling hundreds more charities to access the specific guidance they need to understand an increasingly complicated tax system. I am delighted that our investment in this new website has started to make such a difference to our sector.

My thanks go once again to Graham Elliott, CTG’s technical adviser, and to the new members of our Management Committee – they join a volunteer team that provides extensive support and expertise to the organisation. I would also like to thank you, our charity and Observer members, for your input and support. CTG could not operate without the donations of its members and would certainly not be celebrating 35 years promoting the voice of the sector on tax issues were it not for the strength that comes from charities working together and continuing to engage on tax.

I look forward to continuing to work with all of you over the coming year.

John Hemming, CTG Chairman