Charity Retailing
Whisper shop
Section titled “Whisper shop”Whisper would love to have a charity shop. A good way to start might be a market stall or a short-term popup shop, not least to gain credibility with potential landlords. For a market stall, storage space and a vehicle would be needed. Typically a charity shop is run by a salaried manager and has volunteer staff, although Cancer Research UK is known for its all-volunteer charity retail workforce. Net income for a charity shop in around 2015 was typically £20K although some charity shops can earn a lot more, particularly hospice charity shops which are popular with the public.
Small charities exemption from corporation tax
Section titled “Small charities exemption from corporation tax”A small charity like Whisper is normally exempt from UK corporation tax on “non primary purpose trading” (for example, running a shop online or offline) provided that the trading turnover is no more than 25% of the charity’s income or £50,000, whichever is lower.
Importing goods into the UK free of duty and VAT
Section titled “Importing goods into the UK free of duty and VAT”Goods for resale at occasional fundraising events (not more than 4 times a year) can be imported free of duty and VAT provided Whisper doesn’t buy them, so somebody (possibly Whisper Uganda? We should check with HMRC before trying that) would need to buy them in Uganda or some other country and donate them.