Dear all,
Just to update you on our application for recognition by the taxman of our charitable status.
I have spoken to the HMRC Charities Unit to understand why there is such a delay with our application. They are currently struggling with an increased workload arising from the reduction in tax rates last year; the amount of tax that charities could reclaim was similarly reduced, so the government introduced a temporary "transitional relief" so that charities' income would not be affected in one go. Unfortunately this means that every claim for Gift Aid now has to be manually processed which has created this ever increasing backlog.
The Unit are currently taking six weeks to process routine payments and 11 weeks to process mail regarding new applications. In our case, the response that we sent earlier this month has been put at the bottom of the pile and we expect it to be looked at some time in June. If they have further queries on our application this is likely to delay it further.
We are looking at options to complain about this situation and also options for accelerating the timescale for applying direct to the Charity Commission - which needs £5,000 of pledged income first.
I will keep everyone informed of any developments with this.
regards,
Andrew Turvey
Company Secretary
Wikimedia UK
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