Charity cap ‘misguided’

THE head of a leading Yorkshire charity has criticised the Government’s proposed cap on charitable donations. 

Sally-Anne Greenfield, chief executive of the Leeds Community Foundation, whose aim is to support philanthropists in terms of their personal or corporate giving, described the move as “mis-guided”.  

Ms Greenfield said: “We believe this is a very mis-guided decision that was intended to reduce tax avoidance but has resulted in a situation that is potentially extremely damaging for all charities. 

“If the cap is introduced as planned, we believe that major donors will give less and this means that vital support for community initiatives will potentially be lost. Unfortunately it will not be the most wealthy that lose out. It will be the most vulnerable in society.” 

Ms Greenfield chited the example of entrepreneur and philanthropist Jimi Heselden who, before his death, gave a total of £23m in charitable donations. 

“Whilst the key motivation for his giving was that he wanted to put something back into the local community, the fact that was some tax relief meant that he was able to give even more generously,” said Ms Greenfield. 

“Had the proposed new cap existed then, it could well have significantly reduced the amount he was able to give. 

“Since his first gift in 2008, the Foundation has been able to invest £8m back into the local community in Leeds, through grants that his fund makes to local community projects. In future this level of generosity would be in jeopardy if the cap is introduced.”

The proposed cap was one of the announcements made by Chancellor George Osborne in the recent Budget and potentially means that tax relief on uncapped allowances will be capped at £50,000 or 25% of income, whichever is higher.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will listen to concerns.