Charity VAT and taxation
Charities face complicated rules from different bodies when looking at the way that tax affects their activities. VAT is handled by H M Revenue & Customs, but it is a ‘self-assessed’ tax which means that the taxpayer carries the majority of the risk when handling VAT issues.
Sayer Vincent can provide guidance and help you to obtain rulings to manage the risk of uncertainty. You also need to consider how VAT interacts with corporation tax and Charity Commission rules on trading and guidance on taking commercial risks with charitable property. For many, charity VAT and taxation is a maze, but Sayer Vincent specialises in making things simple. We can do that because we have over 25 years of advising charities in specialist areas of VAT and tax and our team has built up a large body of knowledge and we are skilled at explaining complex issues in an understandable way.
We can help with:
- VAT review - a comprehensive review to look at all your activities and consider how best to arrange them from the point of view of VAT – this will also consider direct taxation and areas such as rates relief.
- Annual adjustment - an audit of the recovery method you are using for VAT and assistance to make the correct changes to your annual adjustment.
- VAT and property - for major property transactions, it is essential that you get advice early to manage the risk of unnecessary VAT costs. Sayer Vincent can help your charity with a design and build company, listed property and developments with a view to renting out space.
- VAT advice on fundraising - ad hoc advice for clients on new activities or arrangements.
- Advice on contracts - it is often unclear whether a funding agreement is a VATable supply or not, but it is safer to check and we can help to get a ruling from HMRC if there is any doubt.
- Collaborative working - the joint working arrangements may mean that one organisation is sub-contracting to the lead partner, which potentially has VAT consequences. Get specialist advice early in your collaborative venture.
- Trading advice - advice on how to undertake trading, including the governance involved in having a subsidiary company.
- Help with tax returns - we can prepare corporation tax returns and file accounts in the required iXBRL formats under the new HMRC regulations.
- Overseas branches - we use our network to ensure that you obtain up-to-date and relevant advice for your overseas operations.
We always provide an estimate of fees before we start working with you and will keep you informed of the costs involved. For protracted negotiations with HMRC, we will ensure that you have key decision points so you can consider whether to continue or whether to accept the ruling.
Training
We run training courses on all aspects of VAT and taxation for finance and fundraising teams. We can incorporate aspects of gift aid and cover the interaction between VAT and gift for fundraising. Contact us for a tailored training course to meet your organisation’s needs.
Contact us on svinfo@sayervincent.co.uk or call 020 7841 6360 to talk to someone about charity VAT and taxation.
Case study
Publications
Hospice shops - accounting and tax issues
Grants and contracts made simple
Collaborative working made simple
Our people
Updates
How to correct a VAT return walks you through what to do if you discover you have made a mistake in a past VAT return, and whether you should make a disclosure to HMRC.
Penalties for incorrect VAT returns summarises the penalties that HMRC can charge if you make a mistake in a past VAT return and explains the meaning behind reasonable care, careless, deliberate and concealed.
Charity data 2011/12 - An easy to follow summary of the latest tax and allowances for the financial period 2011-12. This includes important tax return and accounts filing deadlines and audit exemptions.