Chancellor wants charity talks over donor tax changes

It is feared that plans to limit tax relief could result in a drop in donations from wealthy benefactors.

The Chancellor said: “I want to sit down with the charities, get it right and make sure they get protected,” reported the BBC.

He also defended his decision to go ahead with a £10bn loan to the International Monetary Fund.

Mr Osborne admitted the Budget proposal had caused “a rush of headlines”, but said it was never the plan that anything should be rushed in, and he had always been planning to have a period of consultation.

“I announced in the budget the principle – I didn’t actually publish a load of detailed legislation and ask Parliament to vote on it immediately,” he told the Today programme.

“I said ‘Let’s take 12 months to get this right. I know in the first few weeks it’s caused a rush of headlines but good tax making takes time and that’s what I want to do.”

Having come in for particularly fierce criticism over the ‘pasty tax’ row about VAT on certain types of hot takeaway food, and a freeze on age-related allowances, the Chancellor also admitted the presentation of what he was trying to achieve in the Budget had been problematic – but stood by the decisions that he had taken.

“I’m the first to accept the headlines have not been great, and I think the fact bits of it were leaked in advance didn’t help with presentation,” he said.

“But ultimately, doing my job, you have to keep your eye on the most important thing – are you doing the right thing to help the British economy create jobs and grow?

“I think the decisions we took in the Budget, to make the tax system more competitive and to help business grow, were the right decisions and are the right decisions.