Aid to Charities

The position of charities in the UK has become a topic of growing concern. The House of Commons Expenditure Committee in its Tenth Report for the Session 1974–75 reviewed the role of the Charity Commissioners and their accountability. The Goodman Committee reported in 1976 on charity law and voluntary organisation and the report of the Wolfenden Committee in 1978 has stimulated further interest. However, constraints on public expenditure have given the whole question a more topical interest, and particularly within the context of how voluntary organisations might best be stimulated. In the Government's budget for 1980 and 1981 tax relief changes exemplify the interest in encouraging voluntary effort. In 1980, for example, tax relief for payments under deed of covenant was extended to the higher rates of tax subject to a ceiling of £3,000 a year, and the effective minimum period was reduced from seven to four years. Tax exemptions for bequests were doubled and exemption was allowed from development land tax for all disposals of land. In 1981 there was a widening of capital tax relief for trusts for disabled people and an increase in value added tax relief for charities serving the disabled.