The Government has published Draft Finance Bill 2018-19. Explanatory notes to the legislation can be found here.

Clauses that are most likely to be of interest to charities are outlined below:

• Clause 2: Exemption for benefit in form of vehicle-battery charging at workplace – This clause introduces a new exemption to Chapter 3 of Part 4 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA) to encourage employers to provide charging facilities for all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles at or near the workplace. It removes any liability to income tax arising from the provision of charging facilities (including electricity) for individuals charging the batteries of vehicles other than taxable cars or vans at or near their workplace
• Clause 4: Exemption for expenses related to travel –This clause removes the requirement for employers to check receipts or other forms of documentary evidence of the amounts spent by employees when using the HMRC benchmark scale rates to pay or reimburse their employees’ qualifying subsistence expenses. This clause also makes necessary amendments to allow HMRC to introduce a statutory exemption for overseas scale rates, subject to the same checking requirements as benchmark scale rates.
• Clause 5: Beneficiaries of tax-exempt employer provided pension benefits – Employers often provide death in service and retirement benefits to employees. This clause will amend the tax exemption which concerns employer paid premiums into life assurance products and employer contributions to certain overseas pension schemes. Currently, premiums and contributions are only tax exempted if the named beneficiary is the employee or a member of the employee’s family or household. This clause will allow the named beneficiary to be any individual or registered charity.
• Clause 6, Schedules 1 and 2: Disposals of assets by non-UK residents and payments on account etc – This clause and Schedule 1 introduce from 6 April 2019 new provisions to bring gains on interests in UK land by non-UK residents into charge, to charge non-UK resident companies to corporation tax (CT) on their gains from disposals of interests in UK land, and to abolish the charge to tax on ATED-related gains. The clause and Schedule 2 extend from 6 April 2019 existing reporting and payment on account obligations on non-UK residents disposing of UK property to include the new interests chargeable to tax; and also introduce from 6 April 2020 capital gains tax (CGT) reporting and payment on account obligations for residential property gains chargeable on UK resident persons and branches and agencies of non-UK resident persons.
• Clause 10 and Schedule 6: Avoidance involving profit fragmentation arrangements – This clause and Schedule introduce a new anti-avoidance rule to ensure that business profits cannot be taken out of the charge to UK tax by arranging for them to be attributed to offshore entities. The new rules have effect for profits arising on or after 6 April 2019 (income tax) or 1 April 2019 (corporation tax).
• Clause 16: Gift Aid: restrictions on associated benefits – This clause simplifies the number of thresholds (from three to two) and changes the limits on the value of benefits that can be given to donors without affecting the Gift Aid qualifying status of a donation to a charity. The changes will apply in relation to gifts by individuals and payments by companies made to charities on or after 6 April 2019. Read more here.
• Clause 30, Schedules 11 and 12: Penalties for failure to make returns and deliberately withholding information – The clause and first schedule introduce a new late filing regime that replaces existing late submission penalties with a points based system. If you miss a deadline a point will be given. A penalty will only be charged when a specified number of points are accrued. The number of points required for a penalty to be levied depends on the filing frequency of the return. The clause and second schedule introduce an amended penalty for deliberately withholding information from HMRC. The changes to this penalty are required to accommodate the new points based regime and ensure that the penalty works as intended. The schedule gives HMRC the power to charge penalties where a taxpayer deliberately withholds information which would enable HMRC to assess their tax liability. These penalties are based on a percentage of the tax due and can be reduced based on disclosure of the failing. The provisions following consultation as part of the process implementing Making Tax Digital.
• Clause 32 and Schedule 14: VAT: repayment interest: This clause and Schedule make amendments to Finance Act 2009 relating to repayment interest and VAT. The changes come into force on a day to be announced and by way of regulations. The Schedule introduces changes to FA09 S102 and Schedule 54 that bring VAT into the scope of the provisions for Repayment Interest. The changes generally ensure that repayment interest works in the same way for VAT as it currently does for income tax self assessment with the exception of two areas around reasonable enquiry and missing returns.