Top-up payments
2Meaning of “eligible charity”
1
A charity is an eligible charity for a tax year if—
a
it has made a successful gift aid exemption claim in at least 2 of the previous 4 tax years, and
b
the charity’s start-up period expired before that year.
2
If a charity did not make any successful gift aid exemption claims in a period of 2 consecutive tax years, any claim made in an earlier tax year is to be disregarded for the purposes of subsection (1)(a).
3
A charity on which a penalty has been imposed in connection with a gift aid exemption claim or top-up claim made by the charity is not an eligible charity—
a
for the tax year in which the claim was made, or
b
for the next tax year,
(even if the penalty was imposed after the tax year in which the claim was made).
4
For the purposes of this section—
a
a charity’s “start-up period” is the first period of 2 consecutive tax years during which it is, at all times, a charity (as defined by section 18(1));
b
“penalty” means a penalty under—
i
Schedule 24 to the Finance Act 2007, or
ii
regulations under section 11;
c
a penalty is not to be regarded as having been imposed if all of the penalty is suspended (or the decision that a penalty is payable is cancelled on appeal); but this does not apply to a suspended penalty that subsequently becomes payable.