Report Proposes Business Subsidies for Voluntary Work

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

The Centre for Social Justice, a major UK think tank, is proposing an incentive for big businesses in the UK to run a tax relief scheme called the “C-Volunteering” plan. The proposed plan, which will be outlined in a forthcoming report, would encourage UK businesses to subsidise voluntary work carried out by their employees. The proposals have been drawn up in conjunction with ‘C’, a new social enterprise group led by three senior business professionals.

It is estimated that the plan would increase donations to charities by approximately £1 billion per year.

Businesses that enrol in the proposed plan would receive a tax relief for subsidising voluntary work carried out by their employees. Employees would be encouraged to give up some of their working time to a charity of their choice and the firm would increase the value of their contribution by agreeing to an hourly rate for the voluntary work. Businesses would be able to recoup some of the costs by setting their gifts against corporation tax in much the same way as they can offset research and development bills. Read more.