VCS related highlights from 2012 Budget

Whilst Chancellor George Osborne made no mention of the VCS in his Budget speech on Wednesday 21 March, the full Budget document contains several references to the sector, including:

• Gift aid small donations scheme - The Budget has doubled the maximum donation amount on which charities will no longer have to obtain signed gift aid declarations for in order to qualify for the relief, to £20.
• Gift aid total claim - The total amount able to be claimed for remains at £5,000 and will be introduced from April next year.
• Charity shop donations - The government will work with the charity sector to simplify the administration of gift aid in the context of charity shops.
• Advice services - The government will provide £40million for civil society advice services over the two years from 2013 to 2015, to support the sector as it adapts to changes in the way that it is funded.
• Personal tax reliefs - A cap on personal tax reliefs that it admitted may affect major donations.
• Social investment - The Treasury will conduct an internal review looking into the financial barriers to social enterprise.
• VAT on charitable buildings - The government will withdraw charitable buildings from the scope of the VAT reduced rate for the supply and installation of energy-saving materials.
• Red tape - The government will launch sector-based reviews of regulation from April 2012 to ensure regulation is enforced at the lowest possible cost to business, starting with volunteer events, among others.
• Health and safety - 84 per cent of health and safety regulation is to be scrapped.

To read the full Budget document visit http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_complete.pdf.