The previous guidance was about calculating how much of the membership fee went towards providing personal tuition. HMRC did not offer blanket guidance on what might constitute tuition, but the general expectation was that most groups would be providing some personal tuition. This involved some complex calculations:
- Deciding what constated personal tuition and working out how much of a rehearsal provided personal tuition
- Giving that amount of time a monetary value
Whatever that monetary value was would be subtracted from the total membership fee, and what was left could have Gift Aid claimed on it.
The new guidance is simpler. The decision is: does the membership fee give personal access to services/facilities (which includes tuition)?
- If it does – you cannot claim Gift Aid
- If it doesn’t – you can claim Gift Aid on the full amount of the membership
What might count as providing tuition has also changed, and the focus is now more on personal tuition rather than the rehearsal process (see Can we claim Gift Aid under the new guidance if we have previously been claiming under the old guidance?).
