Membership

[The Drone Ranger]

Is it true that the new membership of the SBA has been reduced to £10 if you have the magazine delivered online only ?
Don't know who came up with that one but have to say I think it's a great idea

[fatshark]

DR ... where did you hear that gem? Sounds far too go-ahead for an association that allows you to join at any time of year, even mid/late autumn, for £30 ... with the renewal due on 1st January. I did look at the membership page (as I was intending to join for 2014) but it's not mentioned.

Whilst we're on the subject of membership fees ... I did email the membership secretary asking if it was possible to Gift Aid the fee. SBA is a charity and I presume therefore able to claim the tax I've paid back on my annual subscription. I do this with my local BKA, the RSPB and a bunch of other things ... all smallish amounts but I'd much prefer they go to the good cause rather than Trident, subsidising the canteen in the House of Commons or paying for Italian imports.

No reply :(

[Jon]

In NIHBS we voted recently that anyone joining after 30 September gets the following years membership as well.

fatshark.
The entire Gift Aid reclaim process moved online this year from the point of view of the charity reclaiming the Gift Aid.
The charity has to register with HMRC and an activation code is posted out within a week.
I submitted a reclaim for tax on a couple of hundred donations a couple of months back and the money was in the charity account 10 days later.
Very simple and efficient process.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/online/

[fatshark]

Hi Jon
I know how easy it is to do and I know how many memberships/donations/contributions I make that are Gift Aid(ed) ... I therefore always ask if the facility is available because the recipient can't claim anything back unless I've signed something to confirm I'm a taxpayer. I so dislike paying tax it almost becomes the rate-limiting step in whether to join up! If they don't do it (and I suspect the radio silence and absence of any mention of it on the membership pages means they don't) they're missing out on £7.50 for every taxpaying member. Additionally, all those 50% tax banded Edinburgh types* are having to pay the full whack rather than claiming the tax back, in which case membership would cost them only £18.75 a year.
Well done to NIHBS on your membership policy. Eminently sensible.

* joke ... just incase some of my readers aren't onto their second bottle of beer this lovely Friday evening.

[gavin]

Walking to Mennies as I type!

Edit: can't mean me on my salary!

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[Jon]

You can only reclaim gift aid at the basic rate unfortunately, irrespective of the individual donors tax band.

HMRC changed the terms and conditions last year and every donor had to sign a new declaration with the amended wording irrespective of what had been signed previously. I had to write to some donors several times before I got the forms back in.
If SBA is a HMRC registered charity and it is not claiming Gift Aid it is throwing away thousands of quid.
That link I posted above explains the entire process.

[fatshark]

Hmmm ... SBA are a registered Scottish charity (http://www.oscr.org.uk/search-charity-register/?keywords=beekeepers&sortBy=number&sortOrder=asc&page=1) and it seems like they can be registered for Gift Aid with HMRC. However, I could find no way to search for charities that had registered for Gift Aid with HMRC.

Still ... if membership is only a tenner now it's probably not worth the hassle ;)

Gavin ... walking? Night off for the chauffeur then?

[Jon]

If you e mail HMRC with the name of a charity they will tell you if it is registered with them for tax purposes.
The 'registered' thing does not apply to NI although that will be changing shortly as we are to have a new quango - the NI charity commission.

[gavin]

Lol! Walking with the 3.50 quid Asda brolly protecting me from the monsoon I was. Brolly in one hand, Blackberry in the other. Sheltering in the pub for now. Me and Jon can interrogate the membershp secretary in Athlone in a few weeks on the SBA Gift Aid policies.

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[The Drone Ranger]

I'm starting to get the feeling the £10 deal is off the table
The SBA/Tesco voucher double deal seems to have expired as well
Might of known it was too good to be true

The guy who first mentioned it might have been having me on
He was a Spanish beek called Donkey Hoaty
looks like I'll have to wait till January after all