She warned that the tax hike would "damage the essential work done by Jewish charities" and could lead to reductions across the entire charity sector, including organisations fighting antisemitism.
Mendoza added, “Charities of all faiths – as well as secular charities – will be forced to reduce the support they can provide to their beneficiaries, given the charity sector faces an additional £1.4billion tax bill. The chancellor must urgently consider an exemption from this tax rise for the charity sector. Without this, the services provided by British charities will be reduced – in some cases critically.”
The Community Security Trust (CST), which tracks antisemitic incidents, has already seen a surge in reports.
In the first half of 2024, the CST recorded 1,978 incidents of anti-Jewish hate, over double the 964 incidents reported in the first half of 2023.
Mark Gardner, CST’s chief executive, warned: “The NI costs will add a six figure sum to CST’s expenditure, which is already well over £10million because of the war, and the huge amount of extra work needing done by our strongly expanded staff and volunteer numbers.”
The Treasury has defended its position, citing the UK’s "generous" tax regime for charities, which includes over £6 billion in tax relief for charities and their donors.
A spokesperson for the Treasury pointed out that small charities have been protected by an increase in the Employment Allowance to £10,500, which will benefit many organisations with National Insurance liabilities.
Labour's shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has defended the increase in National Insurance, saying it will raise funds to address the country’s "broken" infrastructure.
