EVENTS


CHARITY RETAILERS DISCUSS GIFT AID CHANGES


O


ver 30 charities, representing over 1,500 charity shops, converged


on Birmingham to discuss changing requirements of the Gift Aid scheme in a conference organised by retail IT specialist Cybertill. Each year it is estimated that charity


retailers claim £45m in Gift Aid from HMRC. This is the tax a charity can claim back on a charitable donation that a customer who has opted into the scheme would have paid. In April 2013 HMRC introduced


a new process to the Gift Aid system, which impacted on how charity retailers manage their schemes. Under the old arrangement, after goods are sold, but before the charity makes a Gift Aid claim, a letter is sent to the owner of the goods to advise them of the sale and the proceeds raised. This has led to donors receiving a large amount of letters from charities. And for charities, managing this communication process is not only an expensive burden, but also labour intensive. “At British Red Cross we have over


250,000 customers who have signed up to Gift Aid their donations at our shops. So the new legislation has a huge impact on British Red Cross. The conference was much needed as it enabled us to raise some specific questions about the new schemes. It also proved to be an excellent collaborative platform for charity retailers to share ideas on how to increase Gift Aid revenues,” commented Mike Picken, head of commercial development at British Red Cross. The new simplified methods (called


A and B) allow customers to donate goods up to an agreed limit without any letters being sent. These two limits (or as HMRC refer to them as ‘thresholds’) have been set as £100 (Method A) and £1000 (Method B). Only charities that have a separate trading company can use Method B. Both methods greatly reduce


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the need for charities to send out letters to donors, helping reduce costs and complexity. There are however caveats to these


new thresholds. It means that charities must seek their customers’ permission to switch them from their current Gift Aid agreement to either of the new threshold processes. Charities must be able to prove to HMRC, should be they audited, that their customers have consented to be switched to either of the new schemes. Speaking at the conference were


several representatives from HMRC and Cybertill. “The speakers were able to share their expertise and advise charities on the new processes as well as specific details around the communication. From that we will reword our letters to ensure they meet with the new legislation,” stated Sue Sumner, retail and trading manager at Lindsey Lodge Hospice. The conference also covered the new


online submissions to be introduced from October 2013. “Online submissions will streamline our Gift Aid claims. With the Cybertill system, it automates this process as their new submissions platform links directly with HMRC’s submissions portal,” commented Bobby Grant, retail director at Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. Importantly for charities the new HMRC online submissions platform means they will be paid their Gift Aid claims a lot quicker, it will typically take just three days, whereas with the old submission scheme it took around 28 days. “This conference was really


important in terms of sharing information and ensuring that charities really understand the requirements around Gift Aid and the new changes to the processes which have just been introduced by HMRC for charity shops,” concluded Wendy Mitchell, deputy chief executive for the Charity Retail Association.


UPCOMING EVENTS


Drinktec 16-20 September 2013 Messe München, Munich drinktec.com


The Retail Conference 2013 18 September 2013 America Square Conference Centre, London retailconference.co.uk


Square Meal Venues & Event 18-19 September 2013 Old Billingsgate, City of London venuesandevents.co.uk


Temperature Controlled Storage & Distribution 2013 18-19 September 2013 Peterborough Arena, UK tcsanddshow.com


Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference 2013 23-24 September 2013 Lancaster Hotel, London gartner.com/technology/summits/ emea/supply-chain/


2013 North America PCI Community Meeting 24-26 September 2013 Mandalay Bay Convention Centre, Las Vegas pcisecuritystandards.org/ communitymeeting/2013


E-commerce Expo 2-3 October 2013 Olympia, London ecommerceexpo.co.uk


World Retail Congress 7-9 October The CNIT, Paris worldretailcongress.com


Internet Retailing Conference 16 October 2013 Novotel Hammersmith, London internetretailingconference.com


IP EXPO 16-17 October 2013 Earls Court 2, London ipexpo.co.uk


2013 European PCI Community Meeting 29-31 October 2013 Nice Acropolis, France pcisecuritystandards.org/ communitymeeting/2013


Autumn 2013 07


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