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Gift Aid and the Haworthia Society.

The History of Charitable Status.

A Charities’ Register was first organised in 1817 to compile a comprehensive, geographically-indexed description of all charities in England and Wales that were then known.

The present Charity Commission dates from 1853 and became the Government agent for regulating Registered Charities. This was in part to prevent individuals or groups from setting up fraudulent or false charities or using them for personal gain, the prevention and prosecution of which, of course, is still amongst the Commissioners' responsibilities.

In around 1948 there were further changes and for many years now there has been a fiscal arrangement whereby Organisations approved by the Charities Commissioners have been able to claim back from the Inland Revenue the tax paid, at the standard rate of income tax, on donations to the Charity in question. It was then usually necessary to covenant to pay that donation on a regular basis for a minimum period of seven years.

Proposals for revising charity legislation for England and Wales were first published as a Draft Bill in May 2004. The new Charities Bill received Royal Assent and became law on 8th November 2006 and was introduced as a rolling programme of annual changes, announced well in advance.

This was a fairly complex and comprehensive piece of legislation, but, from our point of view, the significant points are that claiming a tax rebate was made significantly easier for small societies of a recognisably charitable nature that could show public benefit - in our case Education and Conservation. This became practicable for us when that part of the 2006 Act became law in 2009.

The Haworthia Society and Charitable Status.

In October 2009 the Haworthia Society was granted Charitable Status as a Small Society. This meant that we were then able to claim back from the Inland Revenue the tax that members have paid on the money used to pay in their annual subscription (or Donation) to the Society. There is no additional cost to Members, but we do need them to approve this ticking the appropriate box in the Gift Aid Application on their membership application or renewal form.

Please note that this allowance only applies to Members who are UK tax payers and only then if they have paid their subscription themselves. Members must pay an amount of income tax and / or capital gains tax at least equal to the tax that the Haworthia Society reclaims on their donations in the relevant tax year. (Currently about 25p for each pound subscribed).

If, in the future, Members circumstances change and they no longer pay tax on their income and / or capital gains equal to the tax that the Haworthia Society reclaims, they should cancel their Gift Aid Declaration, which, can be done at any time by advising the Membership Secretary of the Haworthia Society in writing. The Declaration will then not apply to any donations / membership subscriptions the individual makes to the Society on or after the date of cancellation or such later date as they specify.

Note that failing to cancel the Declaration, if the member is no longer paying tax, might make them liable to repay the amount claimed on their behalf by the Society for the relevant year(s). Conversely, if a member pays income and / or capital gains tax at the higher rate they may be able to claim marginal tax relief.

Members should please notify in writing the Haworthia Society if they change their name or address while the declaration is in force.

Further information on Gift Aid is available by requesting your local tax office for leaflet IR 113, Gift Aid.

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