Zeus Global UK Asks: How Hard Will Tax Relief Cuts Affect Charities?

May 11, 2012 - PRLog -- The proposed changes would cut tax relief on donations over £50,000. Campaigners had originally suggested that the cap would cost charities as much as £500m per year. But Zeus Global UK understands that this initial estimation might actually be inaccurate. Half of the UK's top 20 charities say that only 1% of total fund-raising income comes from donations of over £50,000.

Why is the government introducing the cap? The cap is intended to help tackle tax avoidance by the super-rich who some claim use it as a way to keep their tax liability down. Zeus Global UK works with a number of the biggest charity clients in the UK and were initially disappointed by the proposals. However it has since emerged that the Charities Aid Foundation, which advises charities on their donations has had to concede that the previous estimate of a £500m loss to charities. It was in fact 'guesswork.' Their chief executive John Low recently told the BBC that “Even if the figures are inaccurate, there's a high level of uncertainty – at least you're getting some ballpark of the problem.”

A spokesperson for Zeus Global UK said, “This is obviously an issue that is very close to our hearts here at Zeus Global UK. The worry with this cap is not only that charities will be affected but also that large donors will be put off because they fear being branded a tax cheat. At Zeus Global UK we feel that the government needs to allow charities the time to work out exactly how much they will be affected and then come up with a solution to prevent the minority who are abusing the system from doing so.”

Zeus Global UK is a direct marketing, sales and campaign management company based in Coventry.