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ICTR has moved.

Our new address is 85 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2.  Our new phone number is 6769908.

Join the Taxback Campaign - December 2011

Would you like your charity to be part of a nationwide campaign that will boost the tax-effectiveness of your donors?  You’ve already invested considerably in recruiting, developing and retaining your donors. You’re under pressure to increase your return on that investment. But you don’t want to tire your donors with too many asks. So what will grow your income at low cost - without donor fatigue? 

The answer is Taxback – the Revenue rebate on donations by PAYE-donors. 
The proportion of €250+ donors who return their CHY 2 forms to most charities is less than the proportion of PAYE taxpayers in the general public. So many donors whose donations would be eligible for Taxback don’t do so for various reasons – inertia, uncertainty about whether it applies to them or is limited to only one of their chosen charities, worry that it might affect their tax affairs, etc. 

Following an initial meeting of charities in November on the idea of a Taxback campaign, a steering group came together to manage the campaign under the auspices of the ICTR. The campaign has just one primary aim – to get more donors to return their rebate forms. We’re not trying to get more money out of donors, just to get them to complete and send back their CHY 2 forms. Through raising awareness and addressing barriers to response, the campaign will improve the response rates charities get on their tax mailings. This will produce a positive return on investment from contributing charities in the same year as the spend. 

The campaign will run in several media, including media and online, next March - when most charities send their tax mailings. It will raise awareness of the benefits of Taxback, the simple need to complete and return the forms and address some of the common barriers to response. It will carry a Taxback brand that you can use in your mail and online activities to integrate with the national campaign. The more charities we can bring together to pool budgets, the more we can achieve. 

Will your charity join the campaign? By pledging your contribution now, you will be helping to ensure this innovative campaign drives more of your donors to return their tax forms as soon as March 2012.

Click here for further information.  

To sign up and pledge your contribution, please contact bruce2clark@gmail.com

 

Budget 2011 - December 2011

The much heralded 2% increase in VAT was confirmed in the budget which is very bad news for charities, increasing as it does the irrecoverable VAT burden at a time of reduced income from fundraising and government cutbacks. 
There have been no changes to the tax relief scheme on donations so the marginal rate relief is still in place but we were disappointed at the failure to simplify administration of the scheme as per our discussions with the Dept. Finance Working Group.  It is still possible to get this addressed in the forthcoming Finance Bill and we will immediately be seeking meetings to pursue this.  In the meantime we have issued the press release below on behalf of the sector.

Press Release: Charities criticise VAT hike and lack of support in the Budget.

 Vat Campaign - December 2011

In our ongoing vat campaign we wrote to The Irish Times highlighting the serious impact that an increase in vat would have on charities.  The letter was printed in the paper today.  Click here to read the full letter (go to the top section - Preparing for the Budget).

ICTR's 20th Annual Conference - November 2011

Whither or Wither Charities? That is the question - ICTR's 20th Annual Conference took place on Thursday 10th of November in the Ashling Hotel, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8.  We are delighted with the positive feedback we received an thanks to everyone for making it a very interesting and thought provoking morning.  

 

 

Conference Photo with Sheila Nordon, Katheleen O'Meara, Minister Alan Shatter, Jane Ryder and Jonathan Irwin. 

 

Celebrating its 20th Birthday this year ICTR took the opportunity to reflect on the past twenty years and what has been achieved before asking our contributors to gaze into their crystal balls to suggest what is in store for the next ten or twenty.

We were delighted to welcome Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence Alan Shatter TD, who opened the conference.  Our speakers were Brendan Keenan (Economics Editor, Independent Newspapers), Jane Ryder (Outgoing CEO of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator), John McCormack (Chief Executive, Irish Cancer Society), Jonathan Irwin (CEO, The Jack and Jill Children's Foundation), Sheila Nordon (Executive Director, ICTR) and Kathleen O'Meara (Chair, ICTR).

Click here to go to our events page for the full conference programme.

 ICTR Dail Briefing - September 2011

On September 29th ICTR held a Dail Briefing session to brief TDs and Senators.  Information was provided on the work of and challenges facing the sector and on legislation and taxation issues affecting charities.
Read our Briefing Note here.

Sheila Nordon appointed Chair of the Social Finance Foundation - July 2011

Sheila Nordon, Executive Director of ICTR, was appointed new Chair of the Social Finance Foundation effective 27th July, 2011.  The board unanimously welcomed Sheila's appointment. 
Read the Press Release here. 

Fundraising Principles media coverage -  May 2011

The Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising has received further media coverage, this time in the Sunday Business Post on April 17th.  Click on the link to read the article: Voluntary Code for charities will give rights to donors.

On March 14th The Irish Times featured a front page article on the Implementation of the Fundraising Principles, click on the link to read the article: Charities introduce code to boost financial transparency.

This was followed by by an editorial on the 15th March, click on the link to read the editorial: Regulating Charities.

 

Regional newspapers also covered the statement, click on the following links to read the articles (PDF format):
Sligo Weekender May 24th, Clare Champion May 6th, Finn Valley Post May 5th, Letterkenny Post May 5th, Northern Standard May 5th, Connaught Telegraph April 5th    

You can view or download the Statement of Guiding Principles for Fundraising here.  Click here to read more about the Fundraising Principles and to view or download the resources available to assist you in implementing the Principles.

(If you are not on our email list and would like to be please contact us at ictr@ictr.ie).

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About us

Irish Charities Tax Reform Group is a leadership organization working on behalf of charities to enhance the conditions for a vibrant and independent charity sector in Ireland.    ICTRG promotes the implementation of policies to optimize the financial value of donations (by charity friendly tax reform) and underpin public and donor confidence in charities.

Our sister organisation ICTR has carried out research on VAT and Charities, tax relief on donations and, on how regulation of fundraising by means of Codes of Practice can work in Ireland.    ICTR has been closely involved at all stages of the development of the Charities Act 2009 and is now firmly focused on implementation issues.  Read or download ICTR's Briefing Note on the Charities Act 2009 (PDF format 19KB) here.

Our major achievements to date are:

• The introduction of a comprehensive system of tax relief for all donations above €250, with no upper limit, to Eligible Charities in 2001 
• The extension of income tax relief to gifts of publicly quoted shares to charities in 2006

We are now working to:

• Remove the VAT burden on charities through the introduction of a VAT compensation scheme by government (see our vat campaign website www.vatcampaign.com)
• Reduce the minimum donation eligible for tax relief to €100, with a view to removing a minimum altogether
• To remove the new tax relief restrictions for high earners on donations to charities
• Extend tax relief to other non-cash donations (such as property and gifts in kind)
• Ensure that the implementation of the new Charities Act 2009 underpins public confidence in the sector, whilst accommodating the needs of charities