• Council Tax – Changes to Empty Property Premium in England
  • Spring Budget – Tax changes of relevance to charities 

Council Tax – Changes to Empty Property Premium in England 

New rules on long term empty residential properties in England came into effect on 1 April 2024, which will mean a property will pay double council tax if it has been empty for 12 months, (this is already the case in Wales and Scotland) rather than the current 2 years.  There are 3 exceptions to note:  

  1. Properties undergoing probate – this may be relevant to members who have been bequeathed property by donors.  
  2. Properties being actively marketing for sale or let – this will be relevant to all members who have empty properties and are looking for residents.  
  3. Empty properties undergoing major repairs or structural alterations.  

All 3 exceptions can provide up to another 12 months and The Almshouse Association considers (2) and (3) are of most relevance to members.    

The Association would urge members to keep records of any active marketing activities they are doing to fill vacancies, as well as major repairs and structural alterations. Should members have difficult in filling vacancies, please do not hesitate to contact our Member Services team to arrange for an advertisement to be posted on the Association’s website here.

Further details on the Council Tax premium for empty homes in England can be found here.  

Spring Budget – Tax changes of relevance to charities 

 The Chancellor made the following key announcements which the Charity Tax Group consider could also be relevant to charities in general:  

  • The VAT registration threshold for small businesses increased to ÂŁ90,000 from 1 April 2024, which will hopefully prevent many smaller charities from being drawn into the VAT net.  
  • The Government cut the main rate of National Insurance Contributions for employees from 10% to 8%. The main rate of national insurance for the self-employed reduced from 8% to 6% on Class 4 National Insurance Contributions.  Employers contribution levels are unaffected.  
  • Amendments have been tabled to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill to allow charities to continue to claim Gift Aid on subscription contracts, which could otherwise have been affected by the provisions in the Bill.   

Further details from the Charity Tax Group here.  
A full list of benefit and pension rates for 2024 to 2025 published in November 2023 can be found here. 

posted 15 May 2024