Old Square Tax Chambers

This Practice Note sets out the principal UK tax considerations for charities. It covers the definition of a charity, the income tax and corporation tax exemptions, capital gains tax, trading by charities and the use of trading subsidiaries, Gift Aid and the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, VAT, employment taxes, inheritance tax, and stamp and transfer taxes.For tax purposes, a charity is defined in Part 1 of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2010. A charity is a body of persons or trust that is established for charitable purposes only and meets the jurisdiction condition, the registration condition, and the management condition. The jurisdiction condition requires it to be under the control of a relevant UK court (ie the High Court, the Court of Session or the High Court in Northern Ireland and, for VAT, it also includes the High Court of the Isle of Man). Consequently, the various tax reliefs outlined in this Practice Note apply only to UK charities except in respect of VAT, where

This Practice Note is about the right to interest on repayments of overpaid tax, whether under a statutory regime, the common law of restitution, or EU law (including retained EU law). It covers direct taxes and VAT. This Practice Note also discusses the corporation tax charge on restitution interest, and historic EU law rights to damages in respect of tax overpaid before 31 December 2020. This Practice Note was produced in partnership with Etienne Wong and Shanzé Shah of Old Square Tax Chambers.

This Practice Note is about the rights of a person who has overpaid tax to recover that amount under the common law of restitution. It covers Woolwich claims and mistake-based claims, and the related rules on limitation periods. It also covers the particular issues that arise on the application of the law of restitution to overpaid VAT. This Practice Note was produced in partnership with Etienne Wong and Shanzé Shah of Old Square Tax Chambers.

This Practice Note is about the statutory provisions regulating the recovery of overpaid tax. In the case of direct taxes, it covers overpayment relief. In the case of VAT, it covers the rules applying to a taxable person who has either paid too much output tax or recovered too little input tax. This Practice Note was produced in partnership with Etienne Wong and Shanzé Shah of Old Square Tax Chambers.

This Practice Note outlines how a taxable person who has accounted for and paid VAT on a supply, but who is not paid the price for that supply, may claim a refund of the whole or part of the VAT that they have paid. This Practice Note is produced in partnership with Shanzé Shah of Old Square Tax Chambers (and was previously produced in partnership with Etienne Wong of Old Sqaure Tax Chambers).