Direct Tax for Charities - Risks, Traps & Common Issues for Accountants & Advisers

Introduction

This webinar explores the practical direct tax risks and common pitfalls that arise when advising UK charities, with a particular focus on corporation tax and other direct tax issues within charity structures.

It will take a risk-based approach to areas that are frequently overlooked in day-to-day advisory work, including charitable exemptions, trading activities, use of trading subsidiaries, inter-company arrangements and investment structures, highlighting common areas of HMRC scrutiny.

The emphasis is on real-world application rather than theory, helping advisers identify where apparently routine arrangements can give rise to unexpected direct tax exposure and how those risks can be managed in practice.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Identify key direct tax exemptions available to UK charities and their limitations, including non-charitable expenditure
• Recognise common trading structures used by charities and associated tax risks
• Distinguish between primary purpose trading, ancillary trading, and non-primary purpose trading
• Understand when and why trading subsidiaries may be appropriate, and the associated tax implications
• Spot common pitfalls in transactions and funding arrangements between charities and subsidiaries
• Assess risks around charitable investment income, property income and property-related transactions
• Understand common areas of enquiry for HMRC
• Understand key compliance pitfalls
• Apply practical risk-management steps when advising charity clients