Charity gold away from Rio
Sometimes good news really does come to those who wait. We have seen a slew of gold and silver medals for the GB team in Rio this last week but to my mind the biggest win has nothing to do with the Olympics but has everything to do with charity. Namely the confirmation that the UK Government will bring forward legislation to include contactless payments within the GASDS (Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme).
A consultation setting out potential reform options was published in April – and subsequently received 46 responses from charities, representative bodies and others. HMRC has published the responses to its consultation on simplifying the GASDS. Introduced in 2013, the scheme was designed to make it easier for charities to claim gift aid top-up payments for small cash donations. Far less has been raised for charities than was originally intended, with estimates suggesting it has failed to get anywhere near the £135m the government had expected the scheme to be raising by 2015.
In the summary of responses, the government confirmed that it will bring forward legislation to include contactless payments within GASDS. HMRC stated, “Although currently very few charities use contactless technology, the available evidence suggests that take up is likely to increase in the future. The government is satisfied that contactless donations could be included within GASDS without imposing significant extra burdens on charities who choose to use the technology. The government will therefore bring forward legislation to include contactless payments within GASDS.” It did, however, add that GASDS should “only be available for small donations in which obtaining a full gift aid declaration is not practical or feasible” and therefore other donation methods should not be brought within scope of the scheme.
Contactless Intelligence got in touch with our partner from our last Charity Roundtable - the UK Cards Association - about this news, and a spokesperson commented that the UK Cards Association, “…welcomes HMRC’s decision to include contactless payments for GASDS and is working with HMRC to identify its audit requirements for contactless payments and is also currently defining what a contactless payment is so that it can be included in its proposed legislation.”
I think we’ll all take HMRC’s feedback as a win.
And continuing with league tables and coming top, apparently there is a table that covers wearable objects that consumers would like to see payment enabled. In fact, almost seven in ten contactless payment users would prefer to add contactless functionality to something they already own or wear rather than purchasing a brand new wearable payment device, according to research from Barclaycard. Top of the the list of preferred personal items was a watch, followed by a bracelet or ring from a family member, and bringing up third place was a wedding ring.
In fourth place was a dog lead. What a great idea - think about all those dog walkers who take a trip to the local coronership or supermarket. Although someone’s not thought this one through. You usually have to tie your dog up outside of the shop so I’m not sure how that is going to work if you need to use the dog lead to make a payment.
Anyhow, here the full list from one to ten; Watch, bracelet/ring from family member, wedding ring, dog lead, comfy jumper (as opposed to a non-comfy jumper), sunglasses, favourite hat (as opposed to just any old hat), cufflinks, vintage handbag (as opposed to a modern handbag) and finally the trusty old pocket watch (for those early 20th century dandies out there). I have a feeling that a closet steampunk made this list up but it is August after all and we had to report on something.
As we move into September, I am looking forward to having something more meaty to dissect in my editorials. You, dear reader, probably feel the same way.
Don’t misplace your pocket watch, now…
Steve Atkins
Contactless Intelligence
