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Press Release

New Inheritance tax measures unlikely to encourage new donors

31 August 2011

In a joint response to HMRC's consultation “A new incentive for charitable legacies” the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), Charity Finance Director's Group (CFDG) and National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) have given a cautious welcome to the introduction of inheritance tax relief for charitable legacies which was announced in the Budget.

The group has warned, however, that the new measures will only have an impact on those who have already chosen to leave money to charity in their will rather than encouraging more people today to give. The group is urging the Government to continue looking at other ways of encouraging legacy giving.

Hannah Terrey Head of Policy and Public Affairs at CAF said “Legacy gifts are an important source of income for charities, so if this new incentive can help to establish a norm of leaving 10% of an estate to charity, it would be a very positive thing. However, we believe that this change alone will not have a major impact.

“The Government should consider other ways to encourage giving through legacies, but must also continue to look at ways to encourage people to give while they are alive. Lifetime Legacies are one approach which has been very successful at doing this in the US.”

The full response to the consultation can be found here.



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Charities Aid Foundation

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