Charity bosses are calling on the government to reverse its decision to cap tax relief on donations.
In a survey of 120 charity chief executives, 88% said the decision would have a negative impact on major donations and 82% agreed it would harm the relationship between charities and wealthy individuals.
More than three-quarters (78%) of chief executives want the chancellor the scrap the move, which was announced in last month’s Budget. Almost all (91%) said the government should have consulted with the sector before deciding on the cap.
John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, which carried out the survey, said there was ‘widespread alarm and despair’ at the government’s decision.
‘There are fears across the charity world that donations will be hit, which means the vital work that charities do will be damaged at a time when demand is high and public spending cuts make the charity safety net even more important that ever,’ he said.
‘It was the intent of Parliament that these tax reliefs be used to promote major philanthropy, something which was confirmed in the government’s white paper on giving last year. Capping tax relief on charitable donations flies in the face of the government’s own policies and aspirations for a big society.’
Tax reliefs on charitable donations were previously uncapped, but in the Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced limits of £50,000 or 25% of a person’s income, whichever was greater. The changes will take effect from 2013.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will ‘listen sympathetically’ to charities’ concerns, but Number 10 has also suggested that some wealthy individuals are abusing the system and moving their money into bogus charities that do little charitable work.
