Yes, but that doesn’t make any difference to the ticket buying public, you just simply tick a box and hang on to your receipt – or am I forgetting something?

What is being forgotten is that the Gift Aided price is higher than the non-gift aided; the years free return visits are in recognition of the extra cost; the same reason as why we give the cafe vouchers!

As for trading companies; the trading activity is deemed to be a more risky activity and by separating it off you’re restricting the liability for the charity. The current tax rules allows for ‘all trading profits’ to be covenanted (I think you can also use Gift Aid now) and thereby no tax is paid and it is therefore deemd to be ‘Tax-efficient’!

Whilst in oposition the Conservative Party said they would simplify the rules and allow some trading activities to come back within the main charity – so far that hasn’t been addressed!