Budget 2011: Chancellor encourages putting charities in your will
By politics.co.uk staff
People will be encouraged to leave money to charities in their will after George Osborne focused on helping charities in the Budget.
Those whose wills include a ten per cent legacy to charity will be given a ten per cent tax break on their inheritance tax, the chancellor announced.
He also removed paperwork from gift aid payments below £5,000, thereby streamlining the giving process which allows donations to escape tax.
The chancellor claimed that 100,000 charities would benefit from the gift aid proposals.
“Together, these represent the most radical and most generous reforms to charitable giving for more than 20 years,” he told MPs.
“Do the right thing for a charity, and the government will do the right thing by you. It’s a big help for the big society.”
The Treasury’s proposals echoed recommendations made in the Fanning report on gift aid in December 2010, the Chartered Institute of Taxation said.
Peter Fanning said: “I am delighted that the chancellor has decided to support and improve gift aid and to focus his proposals on reforms that will be of particular benefit to smaller charities.
“There is huge potential for increasing the take-up of gift aid by promoting its availability and making it easier for people to claim it.”
