Letter: Charitable giving

WHILE I have sympathy with the concerns of the leaders of charities (Letters, 4 April), I think they are looking at the problem down the wrong end of the telescope.

My wife and I are retired, with relatively small incomes, and our donations to charity attract gift aid of 20 per cent.

I have never understood why wealthy givers paying tax at 40 per cent (or more) are refunded their higher-rate tax.

Why should it not all go to the charity? If they are affluent enough to pay tax at that rate, then they shouldn’t need what is effectively a bribe to encourage them to give to worthy causes.

My solution would be for society to decide what minimum level of charitable donation would be appropriate for us as good citizens, banded according to income, so that it wouldn’t be obligatory for those on the lowest levels.

For those whose voluntary giving failed to reach the threshold, there would be a compulsory levy, collected as a supplement to income tax and set at a rate higher than the threshold, so that there was a positive incentive to give voluntarily. It would be distributed to charities on a capped pro-rata basis.

Barry Hughes

Comiston Drive

Edinburgh