Work is being done with the government to improve the charity tax returns process as there is a “lot of confusion” with the current system, charity tax experts have said.
Speaking at the Charity Tax Group’s annual conference in Westminster, Richard Bray, chair of the CTG, said it was making a “big push” for improvements to the tax return process for charities.
Bray said the topic usually does not garner much interest among CTG members but a recent expert insights session on completing charity returns saw the most registrations the group had had in a long time.
“I think the real reason was there is so much confusion about how you complete them and I think that’s almost a concern for charities who are getting something out of the blue that they don’t know how to complete,” said Bray.
“One of our missions at CTG is to share with HM Revenue & Customs what some of those issues are and make that a better process.”
One of the topics being discussed is the process of determining charity management in light of new rules on charity advisers, in particular the fit and proper persons test for people acting on behalf of a charity to claim tax reliefs or to exert control over spending the charity’s funds.
“One of the criteria on the fit and proper person tests is whether you complete your tax returns, which you should do,” Bray said.
“But I think that there has to be an understanding that if you want a form to be completed, you need to make it as easy as possible for the taxpayer to complete it, so I think we’ll be making a big push.
“I’m looking forward to sharing with the HMRC team the recording of our expert insights session, because it was such an interesting one.”