Charity worry for Christians

CHRISTIAN charities are being urged to review their ‘public benefit’ role as a consultation process over upcoming changes to charity law gets underway.

Following the Charity Act of November 2006, all charities are being called upon to annually prove their ‘public benefit’ to the Charity Commission. Charities which are unsuccessful in persuading civil servants could lose their tax benefits and may even have their charity de-registered. The consultation is being held to give those affected by the change the opportunity to ask questions.

The Act does not define the exact meaning of ‘public benefit’, as this will be decided by the Charity Commissioner based on the feedback from these consultations.

The Church of England’s Archbishops’ Council has issued a statement responding to the proposals which raised their concerns. The Council said it was concerned that religious charities might find it difficult to express the benefits they provide in ‘a manner which will meet the Commission’s expectations’. Read more

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