Britons 'three times less likely to leave money to charity than Americans'

[Bangyai]

Britons are three times less likely to leave money to charity after they die than Americans, figures show.

Roland Rudd, the public relations businessman and chairman of Legacy10


By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent

1:58PM BST 03 Apr 2012



The claim comes from the Legacy10 campaign, which wants to encourage people to give more to charity in their wills to take advantage of new tax changes which come into force on Friday.

Figures show that while only seven per cent of Britons leave a legacy in their wills, the figure is 20 per cent in America.

Roland Rudd, the public relations businessman and chairman of Legacy10, said: “The UK has fallen behind the US in terms of the number of wills being made. Across the Atlantic people are three times more likely to leave a legacy.

“The inheritance tax cut for those who leave a legacy to charity in their will from 6 April is an important first step in redressing the balance.”

Currently three quarters of people in the UK support a charity in their lifetime, yet only 7 per cent currently leave a charitable gift in their will. Giving as a share of gross domestic product is also half as much – 0.73 per cent – as in America – 1.7 per cent.

Legacy 10 said that by increasing this by just four per cent would reap a further £1 billion for good causes every year under tax changes from Friday April 6.
The campaigners want “legacy10” to become as familiar as HM Revenue and Customs’ gift aid scheme, under which charities can maximise donations by claiming back the basic rate of tax paid by the donor.
Under the changes, from Friday the inheritance tax rate will be cut from 40 per cent to 36 per cent for anyone who leaves more than 10 per cent of their net estate to charity.
This means that is no greater cost to the beneficiary if an estate donates 4 per cent or 10 per cent of the taxable wealth to charity.
Mr Rudd said the changes affected “middle Britain” because they could be exploited by anyone leaving an estate worth over £325,000. "It is a mistake to think that this is just for the super-rich," he said.
"The threshold for inheritance tax is £325,000, which means many people, especially in London and the South-East, will own properties which push them into the top bracket. This is an opportunity to revolutionise giving to our charities and cultural institutions"
A Legacy 10 spokesman added: “For those already planning to leave a legacy of 4 per cent it will cost their beneficiary no more to increase that to 10 per cent.
“Our polling shows that only 20 per cent of people are aware of the tax changes, yet when they have been given more information, over 70 per cent say they would either immediately change their wills or were open-minded about doing so.”
The campaign has so far attracted the backing of Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Legacy10 has set up a website www.legacy10.com to allow readers to calculate how their estates change. Visitors can also take a pledge to support the scheme, by signing up on the website.


Britons three times less likely to leave money to charity as Americans - Telegraph

[Bangyai]

Fuse lit.....now retire to safe distance.

[Thetyim]

The threshold for inheritance tax is £325,000, which means many people, especially in London and the South-East, will own properties which push them into the top bracket.

He has conveniently missed out the "roll over" clause whereby a married couple will get 650k tax free on death of the survivor

[Seekingasylum]

Brits tend not to leave to charity since for many they have already given too much in tax and what is left is divided among close family who invariably now need help to raise children and the like.

Also, the USA is a third world country with many suffering extremes of poverty abandoned by a neglectful and indifferent State and thus the conscience of the richer class is pricked accordingly.

[DrAndy]

no, Brits are mean and they try to justify not helping others with weak excuses

[Bangyai]

[Lostandfound]

We do leave money to charity when we die. 40% of eveything over 325K.

Although I've often thought that the world would be a much fairer place if inheritance tax were 100%, with a seven year rule on gifts.

Reduce tax on earnings to as close to zero as possible. Would promote society based on merit, not birth.

[jamiejambos]

no, Brits are mean and they try to justify not helping others with weak excuses

Or just suffering from compassion fatigue.

[Seekingasylum]

no, Brits are mean and they try to justify not helping others with weak excuses

Thus speaks a refugee without a pot to piss and the imagination of the average roadkill.

[DrAndy]

wrong again theGents, wrong again

[DrAndy]

no, Brits are mean and they try to justify not helping others with weak excuses

Or just suffering from compassion fatigue.

another weak excuse?

[buriramboy]

Inheritence tax is the most vulgar of all taxes and should be scrapped, why the fok should the government benefit from peoples death? Everyone should be free to decide where and who 100% of assets they have built up over a lifetime go to.

The UK government has a massive foreign aid budget that comes from taxpayers money, so everytime you receive a paycheck part of the raping of your hard earned is going to 'charity' anyway, fok leaving anything to them in your will.

[Lostandfound]

Inheritence tax is the most vulgar of all taxes and should be scrapped, why the fok should the government benefit from peoples death? Everyone should be free to decide where and who 100% of assets they have built up over a lifetime go to.

The UK government has a massive foreign aid budget that comes from taxpayers money, so everytime you receive a paycheck part of the raping of your hard earned is going to 'charity' anyway, fok leaving anything to them in your will.

I personally prefer to let them have my money when I'm dead. I think my money is far more useful to me whilst Im alive.

Under the current uk set up they nick 20% vat when I buy stuff (actually over 60% if it's petrol, booze or gags after having already robbed 53-63% of the money I earn in income tax, employer ni and employee ni.

For every pound you earn in the uk, most people in the uk lose around 60% of it's real buying power. More like 70-80% for higher rate tax payers.

After all, if you care about your loved ones so much, just give them the money now if you feel they deserve it.

[buriramboy]

^Not as straight forward as that, as the majority of most peoples assets will not be cash, they will be property and shares so not practicle to hand it over while you are alive as you need a gaff to live in and the other assets for income.

[Lostandfound]

^ nothing to stop people signing over their houses and assets whilst alive, if they feel the urge to pass them to their loved ones etc. There's no need to wait till your dead to give presents away!

By reducing income and sales taxes people will have more money to spend as they choose whilst they are alive. It would stimulate employment too - more incentive to work as you get to keep most of the loot and create a far more egalitarian, entrepreneurial society.

Why wait till your dead to give presents away!

[nedwalk]

Inheritence tax is the most vulgar of all taxes and should be scrapped, why the fok should the government benefit from peoples death? Everyone should be free to decide where and who 100% of assets they have built up over a lifetime go to.

agreed with this..how much tax was paid along the way to gather said 'wealth' and then tax again,,rude just bloody rude! and then the bastard pollies still keep their noses in the trough when they retire..pricks the lot of em, if they want to go into politics i reckon they should do the job at the basic wage, still have the perks but basic wage to keep em grounded..err sorry a little of topic , i just hate the bastard tax office..pricks!!!

[sabang]

Rich Aussie's are notoriously mean- and we don't even have an Inheritance Tax.

Gina Rinehart's version of charity was buying 12% of Fairfax newspapers when she didn't like some Press about her, and pushing for a board seat. Twiggy Forrest has given some trifling money to abo causes, and thinks he's Bill Gates because of it. Clive Palmer just wants to own every sports team in Newcastle, and reckons he's some sort of 'peoples champion'. Naturally, they are all fighting the 'resources rent tax'. Frank Lowy is quite generous in comparison- to Israel.

[jamiejambos]

no, Brits are mean and they try to justify not helping others with weak excuses

Or just suffering from compassion fatigue.

another weak excuse?

How much of your hard-earned cash have you given away then drandy to various charities ?ONLY for them to contact you months later to increase your " Standing Order ". Before i left Scotland,you couldn"t walk 25 metres down Princes street in Edinburgh without encountering someone with their hand out and i got bloody-well pissed of with it over a long period, Hence the Compassion fatigue.

[Seekingasylum]

Actually, charity is wrongheaded. It undermines initiative and penalises the industrious and thrifty, rewards feckless indolence and subsidises incompetent governments.

The greater the pain and suffering endured by a society the more likely they will challenge it.

For example, without the famine and agrarian deprivation in the early part of the 19C there would not have been the Chartist movement paving the way for the notion of benign democracy.

[jamiejambos]

^ Very well put and i totally agree.

[DrAndy]

^ ^^

The greater the pain and suffering endured by a society the more likely they will challenge it.

yes, let all those stupid starving people die because of the droughts

let all those stupid homeless people live in misery because of the floods

let all those stupid sick people die because of the lack of medical attention

[Lostandfound]

^ ^^

The greater the pain and suffering endured by a society the more likely they will challenge it.

yes, let all those stupid starving people die because of the droughts

let all those stupid homeless people live in misery because of the floods

let all those stupid sick people die because of the lack of medical attention

If it forces them to start thinking for themselves so they understand the reasons for their collective disadvantage in society, and forces them to take control of their lives, I'm (reluctantly) with the Gent on this. Sure, it isn't a bloodless process, but that's the price of progress from corrupt kleptocracy to inclusive society.

Pictures of big haired Sino Thais clutching Louis Vuitton handbags or billionaire "philanthopists" doling out pot noodles to ever so grateful poor kids merely helps convince me of that.

[daveboy]

Brits tend not to leave money to charity because we are not very foking charitable.

[FlyFree]

I hesitate to post what i think about this, but fukkit, I will.

IMHO. Brits are much less likely to give to charity than Americans.

Question needs answering; why.

Facetious (?) answers are for dumbfucks.

Humans are basically the same, the difference is the culture in which their ways and thinking are set as children.

My observation is that Brits have less of a need to make themselves feel good about themselves by helping others. Does not mean they don't help others, means their motivation is different so they may help less.

Americans have an undeniable need to be made to feel good about themselves, being the 'good guy', for obvious reasons. Brits much less so.

[kmart]

^ ^^

The greater the pain and suffering endured by a society the more likely they will challenge it.

yes, let all those stupid starving people die because of the droughts

let all those stupid homeless people live in misery because of the floods

let all those stupid sick people die because of the lack of medical attention

And thus a culture of planning, implementation, and discipline forms. Anything given is rarely appreciated.