17 July 2019 
Caroline Jones, Employment tax director
Most volunteers who do unpaid voluntary work for charities, are not office holders or employees. Any expenses incurred by or these individuals in doing the work of the organisation will not give rise to a liability to tax. They are not liable to tax on the reimbursement of the extra cost they might incur, such as the travel between home and the place the work is done.
However, a person who has been appointed to a position by an organisation and does voluntary unpaid work for that organisation may be an office holder. Examples in the HE sector may be Lay members of Council. HMRC’s long standing concession is that no tax charge arises on expenses provided to voluntary office holders, as long as they do not receive any reward for carrying out the duties of their office and any payments or reimbursements do no more than meet the expenses they incurred.
Draft legislation has been published providing certainty by placing the tax-free treatment on a statutory footing. The payments will also not be subject to National Insurance contributions. This statutory exemption will apply from 6 April 2020.
