# Think tank proposes tax relief to companies whose employees volunteer

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/01/05/think-tank-proposes-tax-relief-companies-whose-employees-volunteer/
- Published: 2012-01-05T12:24:13+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The Centre for Social Justice is to propose a scheme that encourages firms to subsidise
voluntary work carried out by their employees. The independent think tank, established
by the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP in 2004, claims that the scheme could boost private
charitable donations by £1 billion a year.

The “C-Volunteering” plan has been drawn up by the CSJ in partnership with ‘C’, 
a new social enterprise group led by three senior business professionals. The proposal
introduces an incentive for firms to run C-Volunteering schemes – a tax relief similar
to the one which exists for research and development.

CSJ Executive Director Gavin Poole said: “We need imaginative new schemes to get
British companies playing a bigger role in tackling deep-seated problems, such as
educational failure and welfare dependency, that are holding back the country economically
and socially.”

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The programme would involve companies encouraging their employees to give up some
of their working time to a charity of their choice. The firm would then boost the
value of their contribution by agreeing an hourly rate for the voluntary work.

The CSJ gives the example of an employee volunteering 19 hours a month: “If the 
matching funding was set at the minimum wage of £6.08 an hour, the charity’s funds
would be boosted by 19 x £6.08 a month or £115.52. A special C-Account would be 
set up to receive the company’s donations and the money would be paid over to the
chosen charity. The whole process would be managed simply and efficiently on line.”

Firms would then be able to recoup some of the costs by setting their gifts against
corporation tax.

www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk

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