| In the week when it was revealed
that the owner of a cancer (ahem) "charity" was helping himself to 80% of
revenue for (ahem) "expenses", pressure is on the Scottish Executive to reform
the nation’s antiquated charity laws. The laws, unchanged since Our
Saviour exited Dumbarton, take a relaxed view of charitable status, in fact it could be
said (as I’m about to) that the laws take a charitable view of charitable status,
allowing virtually any organisation to claim tax-exempt status.
Apart from fraudsters with collecting tins, existing regulation allows those
great institutions of public benefit, Scotland’s public (read private) schools, to
avoid the attentions of The Revenue.
Jean McFadden, who chaired an investigation into charity law two of your Earth
years ago, expressed concern this week that nothing had been done to |
date. This absence of activity has
of course nothing to do with the fact that our nation’s senior civil servants
regularly send their little Torquils and Chloes to "public" schools. Professor
Beaker of Edinburgh’s Rattle those Tins Studies told the JT: "Existing
legislation allows the provision of education as a valid charitable goal which is fair
enough. However, "public" schools are unusual insofar as the beneficiaries of
the service i.e. the dead-eyed cloned offspring of the upper middle class, pay for the
charity’s services via Mummy and Daddy. Which is either an anomaly or alternatively
suggests that the Sally Ann are missing a trick in not charging the jakeys for the soup
they hand out."
Only a complete cynic or a five year old could possibly argue that public
schools do not perform a valid charitable role, it's just that Mummy and Daddy firmly
believe that charity begins and home and the taxman can get it right up him. |
