Britain's Prince Charles' Duchy Originals has been forced to buy back shares from his charity following a change in Gift Aid regulations.
Prince Charles
The food company, which sells food such as soups and biscuits through upmarket retailer Waitrose, saw an increase in profits by two per cent after royalties from products sales were boosted by 2.2 per cent to a total of £3.15 million and gave its entire profits to the prince's charitable foundation.
However this year, the charity had to hand back £1.8 million due to changes in guidance by accountancy watchdog ICAEW on donations from charities trading subsidiaries which came out in 2014.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales [ICAEW] now says it's illegal for a company to hand over charitable donations worth more than its profits available for distribution under accounting rules.
Duchy Originals joins a number of charities who receive funds from trading divisions and may have to hand back some donations.
According the Guardian newspaper, The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation were able to counteract any losses in 2015 because the reversal of Gift Aid payments made by Duchy Originals had been balanced by the repurchase of shares from the charity.
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