There But Not There - Charity needs help to reclaim VAT

[CommanderChuff]

https://www.change.org/p/help-the-armed-forces-charity-there-but-not-there-reclaim-the-vat-on-the-sale-of-commemorative-tommies-ensuring-that-the-taxman-isn-t-the-largest-beneficiary?expired_session=true&expired_session=true&expired_session=true&expired_session=true

 

Return the VAT on the sale of ‘There But Not There’ Tommies

My name is Rowley Gregg. I am a veteran of Afghanistan, but I am also the Director of a small charity called Remembered. We are running a campaign called 'There But Not There'. We have a tiny staff of just five people working tirelessly to commemorate the centenary of WW1, educate young people about its horrors, and importantly, raise funds to support veterans suffering from the mental and physical wounds of Service.

We recently started selling ‘There But Not There’ ‘Tommies’ - figurines that people could buy to commemorate a relative or loved one and in so doing, raise much needed funds for military charities. All the proceeds of which, we had hoped would help our armed forces veteran community.

To date, sales have raised nearly £4m for six military charities, but because our Tommies are technically classed as “merchandise”, £800,000 of the money raised has had to be paid in tax to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), making it the single largest beneficiary of the public fundraising initiative.

This cannot be right.

Four years ago the then Chancellor, George Osborne, refunded the VAT that had been charged on the sale of ceramic poppies from the Tower of London art installation. Surely Chancellor Philip Hammond can do the same in this case?

This year marks the centenary of the end of WWI. The Chancellor could go a long way to defuse the anger felt by many military charities, if he returned the VAT raised on the sale of ‘There But Not There’ Tommies.

So help us Philip Hammond, so we can in turn help our six benefiting charities continue the vitally important work they do, supporting our brave armed forces community.

[asanewt]

Can you "suggest donation level", as Poppy Appeal does, or operate through RBL/Poppy Appeal maybe.

[Moonraker]

28 minutes ago, asanewt said:

Can you "suggest donation level", as Poppy Appeal does, or operate through RBL/Poppy Appeal maybe.

I don't think that Rowley is directly asking for donations, just inviting us to sign the petition asking the Chancellor to return the VAT, as in the link at the top of his post.

 

There is the opportunity to donate to one or more of the six charities

 

on this website

 

" If you are UK Tax Payer and would like to donate through Gift Aid, Remembered can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give. It won’t cost you any extra but will help the charity enormously."

 

Moonraker

 

 

[Rob B]

Hi Rowley,

I remember your Dad from RMAS when he was a Pl Cmdr back in the 70s - I was a Cadet in another Company!

On the 'There But Not There' how is your online petition going as I've signed it and am well aware of the part Lord Dannatt is playing in the promotion of the charity.

Will do what I can, and have even sold a couple of the figurines while collecting with Combat Stress at Blenheim Palace.

All the very best

Rob

PS the projection on the Tommy on the Rock in Gibraltar was outstanding. 

  

[asanewt]

48 minutes ago, Moonraker said:

I don't think that Rowley is directly asking for donations, just inviting us to sign the petition asking the Chancellor to return the VAT, as in the link at the top of his post.

 

There is the opportunity to donate to one or more of the six charities

 

on this website

 

" If you are UK Tax Payer and would like to donate through Gift Aid, Remembered can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give. It won’t cost you any extra but will help the charity enormously."

 

Moonraker

 

 

I meant don't "sell" them. Give them in lieu of "donation" as Poppy Appeal does. Not sure it would work jut saying. 

Edited 25 October , 2018 by asanewt

[Moonraker]

A bit late in the day. There have already been almost £4 million worth of sales.

 

Moonraker

[Cheshire22]

A VAT-registered charity can reclaim all the input tax it is charged on purchases which directly relate to taxable goods or services it sells. A charity that is not VAT registered will not be able to recover the VAT it is charged on standard-rated or reduced-rated goods it buys from VAT-registered businesses.28 Oct 2014

 

are you VAT registered, 

 

have you gone to your MP, to ask for his help and have written direct to the treasury. 

Edited 26 October , 2018 by Cheshire22

[Peter Le Duc]

Can I suggest putting the link to the petition at the end of the first post and not at the beginning where is is not really noticeable.

On reading the post my first thought was how do I sign? and I only “twigged” on going back to the beginning.

 

 

[Ron Clifton]

Have a look at the details of the Budget in tomorrow's press. The Chancellor has announced that a sum equivalent to the VAT raised on sales of commemorative items, in respect of the centenary, will be paid to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund (I think that is the name) in order to provide further provision for the needs of veterans.

 

He mentioned that it was not possible to waive the VAT: I believe that this is probably because the rules for VAT are set by the EU, so this should not be a problem in the future.

 

Ron

[Gunga Din]

Why would anyone with £4 million in sales come to the GWF forum for (legal) tax advice? 

 

If you have £4m in sales surely you have an Accountant. If not, it raises a number of questions.  I would politely suggest you get an Accountant very fast and ignore the advice from unqualified people on the GWF. The potential legal liability for the GWF acting as a platform for this type of legal and fiscal advice is large;both types of advice are regulated in the UK. This is not rocket science. 

 

If the Mods had any sense they would close this immediately. I suspect this is a sting. 

 

Gunga Din

Edited 29 October , 2018 by Gunga Din

[Gareth Davies]

I don't think @CommanderChuff is connected to There but not There.  I suspect he is merely cutting from elsewhere and pasting here.  

[Moonraker]

1 hour ago, Gunga Din said:

Why would anyone with £4 million in sales come to the GWF forum for (legal) tax advice? 

 

If you have £4m in sales surely you have an Accountant. If not, it raises a number of questions.  I would politely suggest you get an Accountant very fast and ignore the advice from unqualified people on the GWF. The potential legal liability for the GWF acting as a platform for this type of legal and fiscal advice is large;both types of advice are regulated in the UK. This is not rocket science. 

 

If the Mods had any sense they would close this immediately. I suspect this is a sting. 

 

Gunga Din

Nowhere in his opening post does Commander Chuff ask for advice. He appears to merely invite us to sign a petition. But the way he has presented his post is misleading. I am not the only one to have assumed that he was Rowley Gregg. and Gareth is almost certainly correct with his Post 11.

 

Googling "Rowley Gregg" will lead to a number of websites connecting him to "Remembered" and "There but not there".

 

Whatever the failings of Post 1, I can't see how signing a petition can lead to being "stung"

 

However, this thread has become a mess and I agree with Gunga Din that it should be closed.

 

Moonraker

 

 

[Gunga Din]

1 minute ago, Moonraker said:

Nowhere in his opening post does Commander Chuff ask for advice. He appears to merely invite us to sign a petition. But the way he has presented his post is misleading. I am not the only one to have assumed that he was Rowley Gregg. and Gareth is almost certainly correct with his Post 11.

 

Googling "Rowley Gregg" will lead to a number of websites connecting him to "Remembered" and "There but not there".

 

Whatever the failings of Post 1, I can't see how signing a petition can lead to being "stung"

 

However, this thread has become a mess and I agree with Gunga Din that it should be closed.

 

Moonraker

 

 

 

Good luck. The FCA might have a different opinion.They have the power to fine a person more money that the GWF has in its coffers. Tick tock....

Edited 29 October , 2018 by Gunga Din

[CommanderChuff]

Sorry for the confusion, I was merely copying a message from the charity and it seemed to be quite clearl in asking for people to sign a petition to try and get their paid VAT refunded by HMRC in the same way that another charity was able to do.

 

For my part I have signed the petition and I hoped that spreading the word would to show that not all good causes are greatly equally.

 

as others have commented the charity may have made millions on sales by they have also and paid VaT on those. There is a precedence for recovering tax paid retrospectively and I hope that they will succeed n getting some more money back to give to the charities which they support.

 

My apologies again.

 

 

[Moonraker]

Help us out here, Gunga Din.  Why do I/we need "Good Luck"? On what matter might the FCA have a different opinion? And which particular posts include advice that might (as you imply) lead to the GWF being fined more than it can afford?

 

Moonraker

[keithmroberts]

The GWF is not responsible for members posts. When posts appear to involve illegality they are immediately removed as we respect the law. However this has gone far enough so I am locking it. I am away from home using a phone only. Colleagues might decide to remove or edit the thread when they can hopefully look at it more carefully than I have time to at present.

 

Keith Roberts 

GWF Team