The government is under pressure from a consortium of sector bodies to implement gift aid reforms before the next Budget, with a new letter to the Treasury emphasising the need to move more processes online.

Umbrella organisations involved in the Gift Aid Forum, including the Institute of Fundraising, Charity Tax Group, CFDG and NCVO have today written a letter to Justine Greening, economic secretary to the Treasury, asking for a raft of reforms and commitments ahead of Budget 2011.

The first reform that the group say should be implemented before the government’s first proper budget is the introduction of a gift aid database and dispensing with the currently mandatory paper declarations.

The Treasury is also asked to review the possibility of enabling online gift aid claims, allowing gift aid to be claimed on text donations, and simplifying the procedures around claiming the tax relief on fundraising sponsorship and auction income.

The issue of higher-rate taxpayer reform has been put to one side, with the group suggesting that in the longer-term government establish a separate working group to re-examine how those in the top tax bracket are encouraged to claim back and donate the tax paid on their charitable donations.

While acknowledging there are differences of opinion between the signatories to the letter, the group were united in the need for reform: “The reforms are essential in modernising gift aid, enabling it to keep up with technological and philanthropic developments over the coming years,” the letter reads. 

Read the letter here.