Volunteer work

[ladymuck]

I've applied to be a volunteer to work on the London Olympics and, as charity doesn't come naturally, I was wondering if there's a way of putting a cost through my Ltd Co (almost as a charitable donation I suppose) equivalent to loss of revenue that would ease the tax burden for that year.

Thoughts?

[northernladuk]

Thoughts?

Don't do charity work as you are too tight to enter in to the spirit of things... How's that?

[CheeseSlice]

When did the Olympics become a charity?

I know people who work on that project and they get paid a tidy sum of money

[VectraMan]

When did the Olympics become a charity?

I know people who work on that project and they get paid a tidy sum of money

Surely there are a million charities more deserving of your time.

[ladymuck]

Don't do charity work as you are too tight to enter in to the spirit of things... How's that?

Very fair point! I'm probably having a mid life crisis and will snap out of it by the time the Olympics come round and I actually have to turn up and do the work.

I know people who work on that project and they get paid a tidy sum of money

I wish I knew someone who could get me in on the project. I kept a good eye out but I don't move in the right circles at present...

[northernladuk]

Very fair point! I'm probably having a mid life crisis and will snap out of it by the time the Olympics come round and I actually have to turn up and do the work.

I thought it would be cool to be part of it as well although I am too far away but then I heard what positions are available and being a coatroom attendant at the 2012 Olympics didn't really sound as appealing.....

[ladymuck]

Just in case anyone cares...

Found this on the HMRC interwebnet:

Secondment of Employees

As scrolling is boring, here's the blurb...

Secondment of employees
If your business lends or temporarily transfers an employee to work for a charity (but not a CASC) you'll be able to treat the cost as a business expense in your accounts. If your business carries on paying that employee, you'll be able to set the cost against your business's taxable profits as if they were still working for you. The cost includes their wages and any business expenses.

Your business will need to carry on operating PAYE (Pay As You Earn) on their wages.

Volunteering
The same applies if any of your employees are volunteering in work time. Your business can continue to claim tax relief for the costs of employing them such as salary and employer’s national insurance. These costs can still be treated as a business expense when calculating chargeable profits for your business.

By my reckoning that just means the salary, PAYE, and any expenses incurred are simply charged to a different P&L account. Not quite the scam I was looking for!

[norrahe]

Surely there are a million charities more deserving of your time.

I'm with VM on this and would rather put any spare time towards charities that need the volunteers and the money rather than those that are bleeding the taxpayers money on a vanity project.