§ As a result of consideration in the course of the year, there will be two changes concerning VAT and charities—one comparatively minor and the other of considerable importance to those running charity shops.
§ One of the points to which some charities have attached importance is that goods exported by a charity, for example to assist the victims of an overseas disaster, might bear VAT. This is not what was intended, and an order will be laid which will ensure that all exports by a charity are zero-rated.
§ Perhaps the greatest anxiety about the effects of VAT on charities has been in respect of sales of donated goods by charity shops. The many voluntary workers in these shops are being increasingly successful in raising substantial sums for deserving causes.
§ In the light of advice from a number of charities, I have decided that the best course is simply to zero-rate the sale in 273 a charity shop of all goods, both new and used, which have been given for resale to a charity established for the relief of the distressed. There will be no limit to the relief in respect of the value of goods donated by private individuals, and the relief will extend to gifts from stock by registered traders up to the statutory £10 limit for business gifts. The necessary order will be laid today. This change will be of very great help to charity shops and I am sure it will be welcomed by the charities concerned.