RSPCA stunned by tax blunder
THE future of an East Yorkshire animal charity has been put at risk after it was told it must repay more than £20,000 following a Government tax payment blunder.
The Hull and East Riding branch of the RSPCA, based in Clough Road, north Hull, has been informed a mistake made by an officer at HM Revenue and Customs has resulted in the charity owing the department £24,010.64.
The bill came after the branch applied to the tax office for a refund on the VAT it had paid on donated animals when they were resold over the past 28 years.
It made the application after the conclusion of a landmark court case involving another charity - Gables Farm Dogs and Cats Home - which concluded animals which were donated should not be subject to VAT payments when they were resold.
The RSPCA received a payment from HM Revenue and Customs for £104,000 in February – enough to cover the running costs of the charity for 15 weeks.
However, it has now been informed there was an over payment to the society after the VAT values used for four years were duplicated by the revenue team.
The RSPCA says it now only has enough money to survive for the next five months - which goes against the charity commissioner's advice recommending charities keep two years worth of reserves available.
The charity which works to prevent animal cruelty, promotes kindness to and alleviates suffering of animals, has now launched a major campaign to help it survive.
Lyn Clarke, general manager, told the Mail: "All money received is greatly needed, so when we received the money we were so elated.
"We sent all our receipts off and of course you don't query your payment, so to be told we owe £24,000 is a huge blow, its devastating.
"Its such an awful lot of money to find, for any charity."
HM Revenue and Customs said it could not comment on individual cases.
However, in a letter sent to the society it apologised for the mistake.
The letter states it "would like to apologise for the over payment to the society and that the branch was led to believe they were receiving more money than they were properly entitled to."
Ms Clarke said the funding crisis came at a time when donations were already being affected by the recession.
She said "Our donations have virtually dried up.
"I really don't know what the future holds for the charity.
"We are launching this appeal to ask people not to forget us."
The first fundraiser which will be held as part of the appeal will take place on Saturday.
There will be a "party in the paddock" and open day, including a series of dog shows at the animal welfare centre in Clough Road from 11am.
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by jacobs jackson, hull
Saturday, June 20 2009, 8:09PM
“please excuse my spelling but what i have to say is true and inportant. the hull branch of the r.s.p.c.a clough rd as just been discoverd after destroying a healthy pet cat by the owner thay at first tryed to say it was sick but after being corected by the owner have said sorry and admited the cat was fine and was "acccedently" destroyed after only an hour! well thay must get paid per animal and destryoy healthy pets as a matter of habit without trying to find or indeed atempting to rehouse in other words thay are killing animals for cash iv proof so please spread the word and think hard befor donating anything e.mail.me for more facts”
by amy, cottingham
Saturday, June 13 2009, 8:12PM
“well all can say i say is that if the rspca did go under not many animals would notice because they do nothing for them anyway. they say no to 95% of cases when you ask clough road for help. they leave sick and injured animals for other charities to save and then they wonder why there funds from the public have dropped.”
by Kathleen, North East
Saturday, June 13 2009, 2:25PM
“I am not sure if my first attempt to comment was successful so I will comment again. Before Jerry and others dig into their pockets please make sure your donations go directly to this local branch. Not many people realise that local branches of the RSPCA do NOT receive any financial assistance from the RSPCA's Head Office. This is in spite of the fact that Head Office receives approx £115 million per year from the general public in donations and legacies. They also have more that £100 million in free reserves and enough millions in investments to bring them in more than £5 million income each year. Add to that the hundreds of millions held in fixed assets and it can be seen that the RSPCA is an extremely wealthy organisations. And yet, the 174 local branches are registered as separate charities and have to raise all their own funding with the help of volunteers. This is a disgraceful state of affairs and it is time it was rectified.”
by Kathlee Moodie, North East
Saturday, June 13 2009, 2:14PM
“Is everyone aware that local branches of the RSPCA receive NO financial assistance from its Head Office despite the fact that it received in excess of £115 million from the general public last year. It also has more than £100 million in free reserves and at least as much invested to bring a return of more that £5 million per year. Ontop of that it has many many miliions in fixed assets. And yet the poor local branches are struggling to raise their own funding thanks to the help of volunteers.”
by Paul S, Hull
Friday, June 12 2009, 8:34PM
“This is nothing new. Tax errors, social security payment errors, council tax errors, family credit errors; we hear these stories every day. It's all about totally incompetent government not able to do the job it is paid to do and the finances of careful people and organisations being put in to turmoil as a result. And chances are that this Mount Everest scale level of incompetence, not experienced in any other first world country, probably over taxes people...but I doubt they are ever told unlikes those that the government believes owes it money.
That said, wouldn't you think that a tax department that can't add up would want to keep quiet about this fact? But this government has no shame.”