A call for non-cash payments to be included in the gift aid small donations scheme has been revoked.
Claims on contactless payments and text donations along with any other non-cash payment will not therefore be accepted under the gift aid small donations scheme, at least for the first three years before the first review of the scheme.
Dr Eilidh Whiteford, SNP MP for Banff and Buchan withdrew her amendment at the third reading of the Small Charitable Donations Bill yesterday after Sajid Javid, Economic Secretary to the Treasury advised a review of the forms of giving would be undertaken during the scheme's three-year review, but that it was too early for some technologies to include these provisions in the scheme.
"It is possible that new forms of electronic giving will be developed in the future that are completely anonymous. Indeed, my hon. Friend mentioned the possibility of using Oyster cards, which are anonymous.
"It is very early at this stage, however, to understand what technology might come along in a few years’ time, so it would be difficult to set out the circumstances in which the power he proposed could be used. Without complete knowledge of Oyster cards or other developing technologies for giving, it is difficult to know whether they would fall under the scheme’s scope and rationale. It is, therefore, possible that the power could never be used," said Javid.
He continued, saying: "Text messages and internet donations can be made from anywhere in the world, but I hope members will agree that the UK government should not make a top-up payment on donations made from outside the UK unless there is firm evidence that the donor is a UK taxpayer or resident. Introducing other forms of giving to the small donations scheme would make it more complicated."
Paul Rees, executive director of the Charities Aid Foundation, said only including cash payments in the scheme would leave it out of date before it's even introduced: "We think the system is in need of a thorough overhaul to make it fit for the modern digital age. Given the recent decline in giving, and cuts to public funding, there is an urgent need to cut form-filling and make it easier for people to use gift aid to back Britain's charities and help not-for-profit organisations survive and carry on their vital work."
The Bill has now passed through the House of Commons to the House of Lords and is expected to be in place by April next year. More of the amendments passed can be found here.
