Clause 83 - Giving through the self-assessment return
Finance Bill
10:30 am
Mr Andrew Tyrie (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; Chichester, Conservative)
The Paymaster General brought the full weight of her 10 years' experience to bear on the previous clause, but I do not think that the full 10 years of anyone's experience is required for the next clause, with which, I hope, the majority of us agree in principle. However, a number of questions arise from it.
We welcome the clause in principle and think that gift aid is a step forward. It provides that self-assessment taxpayers can donate all or part of any self-assessment repayment from the Inland Revenue to a nominated charity. Under the clause, that will then qualify for gift aid. To qualify, charities must apply to be added to an Inland Revenue list. That is a summary of the scheme. I have seven questions for the Economic Secretary, and shall go through them as fast as I can, although I expect that he knows what most of them are.