UK text donations will be VAT free

Consumers in Britain who choose to donate money to charity via text will no longer be required to pay VAT.

Mobile operators have agreed to set up designated short codes in response to moves by the Mobile Data Association (MDA) to waive the tax on donating to good causes.

Hannah Terrey, head of policy and public affairs at the Charities Aid Foundation, has hailed this development as "great news".

"The most important thing for donors is to know that as much as possible of their donation goes to help the cause they want to support," she commented.

Martin Ballard, director of the MDA, added that people like donating via text because SMS is easy to use.

He also noted that the waiving of VAT should help a range of charities get more from this "new, modern and instant" fundraising channel.

A number of charity groups across Britain are already making use of the mobile channel to run text-based marketing and information campaigns.

For example, the Teenage Cancer Trust recently used SMS marketing techniques to highlight the risks of overexposure to sunshine.

Does your firm use SMS marketing?

By Steven Jones