Charity giant voices VAT fears
Wellcome Trust, UK's largest medical research charity, says VAT is sucking money away from good causes
Mark Walport, a director of the
Wellcome Trust , the
UK’s largest charity, says that £400m worth of donations are being lost because
of VAT.
Responding to reports that the
Olympic
Development Authority may have to stump up an extra £1bn because of
taxes, Walport said in a letter to the FT that the Wellcome Trust, the medical
research charity, found itself employing a team of tax advisers to predict VAT
costs it may incur.
Walport said that VAT refund schemes should be applied to all charities
supporting public-sector projects.
‘A
VAT
refund scheme already applies to local authorities…this does not extend to
the work of charities supporting major public-sector projects. Were it to be
extended to all charities, it would prevent more than £400m in annual charitable
expenditure being diverted from the purpose for which it was intended,’ Walport
said.
Further reading:
Olympics facing £1bn extra
VAT bill
EMI CFO appointed as Olympic audit chair
Accenture to run accounting systems for London Olympics