Quote:
Originally Posted by Gayle
The trust can have charitable status if it applies to be a charity. It is not currently a charity from what I understand. Should it apply there is absolutely no reason why it would be refused a charity status. Once it becomes a charity it will then automatically have tax relief. If however, the trust decides not to apply to make it a charity then there is no reason why the government should arbitarily just award it tax relief. What the government has actually said is that it will not give it charitable status without it being a charity.
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As far as I understand it has applied, but has been turned down by HM Revenue and Customs already, because the fund isn't seen as 'for the wider public good'.
'In addition, the fund will not benefit from gift aid, a form of tax relief that allows charities to claim from the government an additional 28p for every £1 they receive in donations. And tax will have to be paid on all interest accrued by the fund.
Last night the Treasury refused to intervene, insisting it was the preserve of HM Revenue & Customs to decide tax liability.
The development will embarrass Gordon Brown who told Madeleine’s family last week he would do all he could to help on “a practical and a personal level”.
The decision on charitable status could hit the family’s efforts to trace Madeleine. Her parents Kate and Gerry are considering hiring a private investigator amid concern over the way police have handled the hunt. A FUND to finance the international search for Madeleine McCann will be forced to pay Vat and denied tax breaks worth tens of thousands of pounds after being refused charitable status
writes Mark Macaskill.
The Madeleine fund has already received almost £80,000 from the public and businesses. Madeleine’s parents had hoped for charity status for the fund but were turned down by the Charity Commission because the money raised is not for the “wider public good”.
Instead, the fund has been registered as a company, which means it is liable to pay Vat at 17.5% on advertising costs and goods designed to raise funds, such as stickers. Charities are eligible for “zero rate” tax relief on such expenses.