| Money matters for volunteers |
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Page 2 of 2 Gift AidThis is a tax-efficient way for individuals, clubs and businesses to give cash to charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs. The gift is treated as having been made after deducting income tax relief at the basic rate of 22 per cent in 2007/08 but falling to 20 per cent from next year). The charity or sports club claims the relief back from HM Revenue & Customs. For example, suppose you give £100. The charity claims back £28.21, which is 22 per cent of the total gift of £128.21. (From April 2008, the charity will only be able to claim back £25 because of the fall in the tax rate.)Note: non-taxpayers and people paying tax at less than the basic rate should not use the Gift Aid scheme, because HMRC can recoup the tax relief given to the charity from the person making the gift if they have not paid at least that much in tax. Are you liable?A concern for many volunteers is whether they could personally be liable if anything went wrong - for example, an event made a loss or, due to an accident, a member of the public sued the society. If a club or society is not structured as a company, then normally, yes, the individual committee members or trustees could be liable. Therefore, it is extremely important that your society takes out adequate insurance relevant to its activities.For example, if you have premises open to visitors or put on public events, make sure you have public liability insurance. If you have employees - say, a paid custodian for a museum - you must have employer's liability insurance. Trustees should ensure their society has taken out trustee insurance. Where a society is structured as a company, the company itself has a legal identity distinct from the people running it. In that case, you might have some protection, but it is still essential that the company takes out appropriate insurance. For a useful guide to the law for volunteers, see Volunteers and the Law by Mark Restall and published by Volunteering England (£15 hardcopy or £12 as a download). In the knowWhile every volunteer needs to know how they stand financially, it is especially important that treasurers and trustees are well informed about the financial and legal position of their society. WI members can take advantage of trustee training days and an annual two-day course for Federation Treasurers run by Denman College.
Pull Quotes Many local clubs and societies assume that their activities are outside the tax system, but this is not the case. It is extremely important that your society takes out adequate insurance relevant to its activities. |
