All is not lost 

Since the Government announced that Social Investment Tax Relief would be extended to 2023, we have been working to understand what the extension means in real terms. 

By talking to fund managers, wealth advisors and frontline organisations, we were able to come to one very clear agreement: whilst the two-year extension is welcome, it simply is not long enough to raise capital and deploy it successfully and in turn, have a transformative impact for social enterprises, charities and community businesses.

Working across the sector with partners such as Social Enterprise UK, Resonance, Co-operatives UK and the Plunkett Foundation, we put a simple ask to Jesse Norman, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, asking him to amend the Finance Bill and increase the extension of SITR to five years.

Utilising all spheres of influence, including gaining the support of 11 Conservative MPs who agreed that the short-nature of the extension could significantly undermine the ambition to do good with the tax relief, we pushed hard to secure SITR’s long-term future. 

As the Finance Bill reached committee stage at the end of April, it was decided that SITR would not be extended to 5 years. The Government argued that the performance of SITR to date, raising £11.2m in investment, was lower than anticipated. 

However, in every dark moment there is light and ours came from Jesse Norman, Financial Secretary to the Treasury stating that there is great opportunity to consider what a reformed SITR should look like. 

Onwards and upwards  

So, whilst it’s not the outcome we hoped for, we now have a clear path forward and we will: 

• Work collaboratively and gather experience and insight cross-sector to propose what an alternative tax relief could look like.
• Support fund managers and wealth advisors to deploy as much SITR capital as possible over the next two years, whilst we engage and continue to raise awareness across the social sector.
• Continue to champion SITR and and support organisations who are looking to raise investment, often in rural and remote communities, to support the Levelling Up agenda. 

Get in touch 

Over the next two years, we want organisations to maximise the use of SITR and we will be supporting charities, social enterprises and community organisations to benefit from it:

• If you are looking to raise investment and think that SITR could work for your organisation, you can access our free resources here. 
• We are always looking for new organisations to partner with and to share #SITRStories on how it is being used to make change to communities across the country.

If you’d like to chat to us about Social Investment Tax Relief, contact Emily Liddle, Senior Communications and Engagement Officer: eliddle@bigsocietycapital.com