Public consultation launched on charitable giving

A public consultation has been launched today to help better understand the community’s views on donating to charitable causes.

The consultation forms part of the Charitable Giving Review that was launched in December 2016, which is being led by the Policy & Resources Committee in partnership with the Association of Guernsey Charities and the Guernsey Community Foundation. The review is exploring the possible measures that the States of Guernsey might introduce to support charities. 

Members of the public are being asked to complete a survey as part of the review. Submissions must be made by 7th March and the survey can be found at www.gov.gg/charitablegiving 

The purpose of the consultation is to gauge public opinion on: 

· Donating money to charities including payroll giving; and 

· Tax relief on money given to charities. 

The results of the consultation will, alongside views gathered from charities, third sector organisations and other groups, inform any recommendations included by the Policy & Resources Committee in the 2018 Budget. 

Deputy Jane Stephens, Policy & Resources Committee lead on social policy, said: 

‘The review on how the States of Guernsey supports the third sector through measures around charitable giving is progressing well. The next step is to understand in more detail how the public feels about donating to charity. 

‘We have worked with third sector representatives to prepare a short set of relevant questions. Once answered, the responses will inform any proposed proposals on how we might best work together in the future.’ 

The charitable giving review will consider: 

• The impact of different thresholds of tax relief on charitable donations both for charities and the voluntary sector and for the States of Guernsey 

• The impact of the introduction for payroll giving for charities and the voluntary sector, for employers and for the States of Guernsey 

• Measures in relation to other sources of income 

• Any other measures proposed by the charitable sector that could have a positive impact on their revenues