Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), a donation is money, goods or services given to a party without charge or on non-commercial terms, with a value of over £500.

Some examples of donations include: 

• a gift of money or property 
• sponsorship of an event or publication 
• subscription or affiliation payments 
• free or specially discounted use of an office

Donations of £500 or less

Donations of £500 or less are outside the scope of PPERA and you do not need to record or report them.

However, you must be alert to situations where it appears that a donor is attempting to evade PPERA. It is an offence to attempt to evade the controls on donations. For example, if a number of donations of £400 are made from the same source in similar circumstances in an attempt to evade the permissibility rules.

If you think this may be happening, you should contact us for advice.

Checks on donations

Donations can only be accepted from certain sources, which are mainly UK-based. Please see Who can you accept donations and loans from? for details on which sources are permissible.

Before your party accepts any donation of more than £500, you must take all reasonable steps to: 

• make sure you know the true identity of the donor
• check that the donation is from a permissible source

How long do you have to check permissibility?

When you receive a donation, you have 30 days to decide if you can accept it. 

Even if you have made a permissibility check in connection with an earlier donation or loan from the same source, you should consider whether to make a fresh check for each subsequent donation.

You should keep a record of all your permissibility checks to show that you have followed the rules.

If the donation isn’t from a permissible donor, or for any reason you can’t be sure of the true identity of the source, please read What do you do if you receive a donation from an impermissible or unidentifiable source? for further guidance on the actions you must take.

Donations on behalf of others

If you are given a donation on behalf of someone else, the person giving you the donation (the agent) must tell you: 

• that the donation is on behalf of someone else; and 
• the actual donor’s details

An example of someone acting as an agent is where an event organiser is handing over the proceeds from a dinner held specifically to raise funds for your party. 

If you think that someone might be acting as an agent, you must find out the facts so that you can make the right checks. If you are not sure who you should treat as the donor, please contact us for advice.

Local party fighting funds 

During elections, your party may run local fighting funds for candidates. If the fund is managed and controlled by the party and not the candidate, donations to the fund are usually treated as donations to the party, unless a donation is specifically made towards the candidate’s election campaign.

For example, a party branch collects donations to raise funds for election campaigning in the local area. If the local party makes it clear that these donations are made for the purpose of meeting the candidate’s election expenses, or a donor specifies their donation is being made for this purpose, then this is a candidate donation.

If instead a donation is not specifically made to meet candidate expenses in this scenario, it should be treated as a donation to the party.

Donations from unidentified sources

If you are unable to confirm who a donation is from, or that it is from a permissible source, you should record it and return it.

If any interest has been gained on the donation your party can keep it, as it is not treated as a donation.

Please see What do you do if you receive a donation from an impermissible or unidentifiable source? for guidance on how to return a donation.

When do you receive a donation?

You usually ‘receive’ a donation on the day you take ownership of it.

For example:

• if you are given free leaflets, you receive the donation when the leaflets are handed over to you
• if you are given a cheque, you receive the donation on the date that the cheque clears
• if a donation is transferred directly into your bank account, you receive the donation on the date that it is received into your account

When do you accept a donation?

You accept a donation on the day you agree to keep the donation. For non-money donations, if you use the donation, you have thereby accepted it. If your party keeps a donation after the 30-day period, you are also deemed to have accepted it.

If your party receives or sells an item, goods or service, you must work out its market value. The market value means the price that would reasonably be expected to be paid for the item, goods or service, if it was on sale in the open market.

Working out the market value is needed to determine whether a donation has been made and what the value is. Any commercial income you gain from these transactions is not a donation.

The following section provides guidance on how to assess the market value of goods and services, determine whether a donation has been made to the party, and calculate the value of the donation.

Goods and services received by the party

As well as receiving donations of money, you may also receive donations of goods and services. If you receive goods or services free of charge, or at a non-commercial discount, you must ensure these are valued at a comparable market rate. 

Non-commercial discounts are special discounts that your party, specifically, is given by suppliers. These are different to commercial discounts available to all customers, such as discounts for bulk orders or seasonal reductions. The donation rules only apply to non-commercial discounts.

If you are given goods or services this will count as a donation if:

• the market value of the goods or services, if given free of charge, exceeds £500, or
• the amount of the non-commercial discount exceeds £500

The value of a donation is the difference between the value of what you receive and the amount (if any) you pay for it.

You will need to know the market value of the items or services to calculate the value of the donation. As with all types of donations, you must also ensure any donation you accept over £500 is from a permissible donor.

Good and services sold by the party

If your party sells goods or services you must ensure these are also valued at a comparable market rate.

It is important you are aware of the market value of the goods and services you sell because if someone pays more than the market value, the difference between what they pay you and the market value will be a donation if this amount exceeds £500.

This is because any additional payment will be received on non-commercial terms, and the donation rules will apply. The market value, or commercial income, is not a donation.

The guiding principle

The guiding principle is that, in all cases, you should make an honest and reasonable assessment of the value of the goods or services you are receiving or selling.

If the exact or similar options of the item or services are available on the market, you should use the rates charged by other providers to guide you in making a valuation. For example, if the donor is a commercial provider, you should use the rates they charge other similar customers.

If there are no exact or similar options of the goods or services available on the market, you should base your assessment on the market rates of a reasonable equivalent. If you are still not sure how to value a particular donation, please contact us for advice.

Your party is required to keep records that show and explain the transactions it has entered into. In order to meet this requirement, you should ensure you keep a record of assessments and valuations so that you can explain whether or not a donation has been made. 

Selling exclusive services

When trying to ascertain the market value, you may also wish to consider the appropriate level in the market of what you are selling.  

For example, in some instances it may be reasonable to use a higher end market valuation. This is especially the case where the services are exclusive and/or where you have a degree of monopoly in the market.

Example 1: how to approach valuing services a party is given

A party is approached by an individual who offers the party free use of their property as the venue for a dinner and auction event. The party confirms that the individual is a permissible donor before accepting the offer.

The party should identify similar venues that are available to hire for comparable events. The party may wish to limit its comparison to other venues in the same area.

The party identifies three similar venues that are available to hire and uses the advertised rates to determine the approximate commercial value of the property’s use.

Example 2: how to approach valuing services a party sells

A party is approached by another organisation for advice on how to run effective political campaigns. The registered party decides to charge the organisation for this service.

In the first instance, the party should identify exact or similar suppliers of such services in the market. If the party is unable to identify a comparable supplier or service of this kind, it should identify an appropriate alternative available in the market.

The party identifies some suppliers who provide consultancy services on running successful political campaigns.

The party identifies three companies who offer these types of services to determine the estimated commercial value for the purposes of PPERA. As the service the party is providing is exclusive, because their experience of election campaigning is not widely available on the market, it may be appropriate for the party to use a higher end market valuation in this instance.

The next three sections provides guidance on how to value and report donations received through crowdfunding, auction prizes and sponsorship.

You must only accept donations over £500 from a permissible source.

As with all types of donations, you have 30 days to carry out permissibility checks and decide if you can accept the donation. The date of receipt is the date you receive the funds from the crowdfunding site.

Money donated via a crowdfunding webpage to a party that is £500 or less is not a donation under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) and is not reportable.

However, when accepting donations you must be aware of situations where it appears a donor is attempting to evade the donation rules, for example if someone makes multiple donations of £500 or less in an attempt to evade the permissibility rules. It is an offence to attempt to evade the controls on donations. If you are concerned this may be happening, please contact us for advice.

You should ensure that you have sufficient information from the crowdfunding provider and maintain your records in a way that enables you to ascertain if multiple donations have come from the same source.

You must collect sufficient information from every donor to ensure that you can properly check that each donation is from a permissible source. You should be clear on the webpage that this is the reason you are collecting any information. If you are uncertain who the actual donor is you must not accept the donation. You cannot accept anonymous donations of over £500.

You must also collect sufficient information to comply with reporting requirements.

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that operate independently of any central bank or authority.

The same rules apply to donations received in cryptocurrencies as any other donations. Sufficient information must be collected to check permissibility. There must be a means of valuing the donation given in any cryptocurrency.

A political party decides to raise money to spend on regulated campaign activity via a crowdfunding website.

The party enters into an agreement with the crowdfunding website that sets a time limit of 5 January and a target of £40,000.

The party then produces a webpage including:

• a proper imprint
• advice that permissibility checks will be undertaken for donations made over £500
• advice that anonymous donations over £500 cannot be accepted
• advice that it is an offence to attempt to evade the donation rules
• information that details of donations over the reporting threshold, including the identity of the donor, will be published on the Electoral Commission website (see Which donations and loans do you need to report?)

The party has selected a crowdfunding website that collects enough information from donors to ensure they can complete their recording and reporting obligations.

Upon achieving the target amount, the party receives the funds on 5 January as well as details of the individual donations given from the crowdfunding provider. The donations include:

• a donation of £550 received by the crowdfunding webpage on 17 December
• a donation of £12,000 received by the crowdfunding webpage on 10 December
• three donations of £4,000 from the same source received by the crowdfunding webpage on 10 December, 17 December and 3 January
• several other donations from identifiable sources between £500 and £1,000 received by the crowdfunding webpage over the target period

The party should commence permissibility checks on 5 January because this is the date of receipt.

The donation of £550 is from an anonymous source. The party returns the donation to the financial institution it was received from originally before the end of the 30 day period for checking permissibility.

The party accepts the donation of £12,000 after a permissibility check is undertaken. The donor is made aware from the information provided on the webpage that their name will be published on the Electoral Commission website.

The party aggregates and accepts the three donations of £4,000 from the same source after they undertake the permissibility checks. The donor is made aware from the information provided on the webpage that their name will be published on the Electoral Commission website.

The party accepts the donations of between £500 and £1,000 after they undertake the permissibility checks. The party records these donations but is not required to report these as they do not meet the reporting threshold.

The party reports the single donation of £12,000, and the three aggregated donations of £4,000 from the same source, as these meet the over £11,180 reporting threshold. Details of these donations are later published on the Electoral Commission website.

What is an auction prize?

An auction prize is anything given for sale or sold to raise money. For example, auction prizes can be cars, the use of holiday homes, artwork, or services such as the provision of a chef for an evening.

You must put a value on the prize so that you can decide if it counts as a donation. If it is a donation, you must check that you can accept it, record it and in certain cases, report it to us, the Electoral Commission, as a donation.

Auction prizes can be either:

• tangible items, or
• intangible benefits or services

The value of both tangible and intangible auction prizes may be easy to find out. For example, a prize may be an item such as a car which has a stated recommended retail price. The value of a prize such as a picture signed by a prominent political figure may be harder to determine.

Raffle prizes 

Similar principles apply to the receipt of items or services that are later used as prizes at raffles.

This will help you to decide whether you need to treat an auction prize as a donation. The guiding principle is that, in all cases, you should make an honest assessment, based on the facts, of the value of the item or service that is being auctioned or raffled.

This will be straightforward for most items. However, for some it will be more complicated. The examples in the next section will help you understand how you should approach your assessment.

When is an auction prize a donation?

There are two possible donation “components” to auction prizes:

• when you receive an item or service for auction
• when you auction the item or service

Receiving the prize

You need to report an auction prize when you receive a prize for auction either without charge or at a non–commercial discount. This counts as a donation to you if:

• the value of the prize, if the item is given free of charge exceeds £500, or,
• the amount of the discount exceeds £500

If the item is given free of charge, the amount of the donation will be the value of the item. If the item is given at a discount, the amount of the donation will be the value of the discount.

At the auction

A further donation is made to you if the buyer pays more than the prize is worth, and if the difference between the item’s worth and what the buyer pays is more than £500.

If you pay the full value of the item when acquiring an auction prize, no donation has been received at that point. If the successful bid for the auction prize is at or below the value of the prize, no donation has been made. If the successful bid for the auction prize is more than £500 above the value of the prize, then a donation has been made.

Calculating value

Where you are given an auction prize before it is auctioned, you must calculate its value so that you know whether or not to treat it as a donation. A common way to determine the value of an auction prize is to check its price (or the price of a reasonable equivalent). Where there is doubt as to the exact value of an item or service, you should obtain three commercial quotes and use the average of the three.

At auction

Any subsequent donation is made if the successful bidder pays more than the market price of the item or service; the donation element is the difference between the price paid by the buyer and the value of the prize. Winning bids that are donations are always categorised as money donations.

The examples below illustrate how to apply the guiding principle in some common circumstances. 

They are intended to help you to consider how you can assess the value of an auction prize. They are not exhaustive. In each case, you must consider the particular facts in order to reach an honest assessment of how to value the auction prize(s). 

If you’re not sure how to value a particular prize, you can contact us for advice. We are happy to talk through how you propose to assess the value of a particular prize. 

As your party is required to keep records that show and explain the transactions it has entered into, you should ensure you keep a record of assessments and valuations so that you can explain whether or not a donation has been made. 

Example 1: a new car

A permissible donor donates a new car to a political party as an auction prize.

The donor requests a nominal fee of £1,000 for the car.

Upon checking the manufacturer’s website you determine that the car has a recommended retail price – a value – of £15,000.

In this scenario, the donor has made a non-money donation to the party of the value of the car minus the fee they have charged. This is

• £15,000 (value of the car) – £1,000 (fee) = a non-money donation of £14,000.

There is a non-money donation to the party of £14,000 which must be reported in a quarterly donation report covering the date when the car was accepted.

At auction the car sells for £18,000. To determine whether a donation has been made, subtract the value of the car from the winning bid:

• £18,000 (winning bid) – £14,000 (value of the car) = a money donation of £4,000.

A money donation of £4,000 has been made to the party at the auction. The party must check the permissibility of the donor before accepting the donation.

Example 2: artwork

An artist donates, free of charge, one of their works to an accounting unit of a political party for auction. The threshold for declaring donations accepted by an accounting unit to the Commission is £2,230.

The artist values their work at approximately £1,500 based on the sale of earlier works. You should check that this valuation is accurate based on the sale prices of the artist’s other works in order to make a reasonable and honest assessment of the value of the work.

If the artist has not sold similar works before, you should obtain a second and third opinion in order to determine whether the donation needs to be reported to the Commission or not.

Two appraisers independently value the artwork at £1,400 and £1,350. To arrive at a market value of the piece, obtain an average of the three figures:

• (£1,500 + £1,400 + £1,350) ÷ 3 = £1,420

As the item was donated free of charge, you should conclude that a non-money donation of £1,420 has been made to the party.

Occasionally, you may be unable to determine the value of an item or service before an auction. For example if the artwork has been done by a prominent public figure who is not an artist or has not sold artwork before. In such a case you may have to wait until the item or service is bought at auction before assigning value to it, and then reporting it as a donation, if necessary.

We are happy to offer advice in such cases, so do contact us.

Example 3: use of a holiday home

A donor, Mr Smith, has offered to your party, at no charge, the use of his Spanish holiday home for a week during the summer for the next five years.

If Mr Smith rents out his holiday home, you should use the price he usually charges and report this as a non-money donation to the party.

Alternatively, if the holiday home is not usually available to rent, you should identify similar rentals in the area and use the advertised rates to work out the market value of the use of Mr Smith’s home.

In this case, you have calculated that the value of this service is £15,000 based on an internet search for prices of holiday rentals in that area of Spain at that time of year (£2,000 a year x 5 years). You must check that Mr Smith is a permissible donor and report to the Commission in the next quarterly report a non-money donation of £15,000 from Mr Smith.

At auction this prize attracts a winning bid of £30,000 from Ms Brown. To calculate the donation element of this transaction, subtract the market value of the prize from the winning bid:

• £30,000 (winning bid) - £15,000 (value) = a money donation of £15,000 

You must check the permissibility of, and also report, the money donation of £15,000 from Ms Brown.

Among the details of the donation you need to report, you must report the date the donation is received. You usually receive a donation on the day you take physical ownership of it. But you may receive it earlier if a person makes a firm commitment to provide the donation to you.

For example, if someone donates a crate of vintage champagne to you for auction, you might receive it on the date that the person gives the crate to you. But if the person donating the crate of vintage champagne offers to store the champagne for you until there has been a successful bid for it at auction, you will receive the donation when the commitment to donate the crate is made.

Sometimes it may be difficult to decide when you have received a donation. You should make an honest assessment based on all the circumstances. If you are not sure, please contact us for advice.

Beth yw nawdd?

Nawdd yw cefnogaeth a roddir i blaid wleidyddol, neu unigolyn neu sefydliad arall a reoleiddir, sy'n ei helpu i dalu am gostau:

• unrhyw gynhadledd, cyfarfod neu ddigwyddiad arall (gan gynnwys cynadleddau neu ddigwyddiadau digidol)
• paratoi, cynhyrchu neu ddosbarthu cyhoeddiad (argraffedig neu ddigidol), neu 
• unrhyw astudiaeth neu ymchwil

Mae taliadau nawdd yn fath o rodd o dan Ddeddf Pleidiau Gwleidyddol, Etholiadau a Refferenda 2000 (PPERA). Lle nad yw taliad yn gyfystyr â nawdd, mae'n bosibl y bydd yn rhodd o hyd os yw'n bodloni'r diffiniad o rodd o dan PPERA. 

Beth yw'r rheolau ynglŷn â nawdd?

Yn yr un modd â rhoddion i bleidiau, dim ond gan ffynhonnell a ganiateir y gellir derbyn taliadau nawdd dros £500. Rhaid i chi roi gwybod am roddion rydych yn eu cael sydd dros drothwyon penodol. Gweler Gan bwy y gallwch dderbyn rhoddion a benthyciadau? a Pa roddion a benthyciadau y mae angen i chi roi gwybod amdanynt? am ragor o fanylion.

Oes:

• taliadau mynediad ar gyfer cynadleddau, cyfarfodydd neu ddigwyddiadau eraill – er enghraifft pasys mynediad i gynhadledd plaid neu ffi fynediad i fynychu digwyddiad a drefnir gan neu ar ran plaid, sefydliad a reoleiddir neu unigolyn
• pris prynu unrhyw gyhoeddiadau
• taliadau ar y gyfradd fasnachol am hysbysebion mewn cyhoeddiadau – ni fydd unrhyw symiau sy'n uwch na'r gyfradd fasnachol wedi'u heithrio ac ystyrir eu bod yn rhodd os byddant yn werth mwy na £500 
• rhai taliadau ar gyfer stondinau mewn cynadleddau

A yw pob math o hysbysebu wedi'i eithrio?

Nac ydy. Dim ond hyd at werth masnachol hysbysebion sy'n ymddangos mewn cyhoeddiadau y mae'r eithriad yn gymwys. Er enghraifft, hysbysebion sy'n ymddangos mewn unrhyw gyhoeddiad, gan gynnwys cyhoeddiad sy'n nodi polisïau plaid, megis maniffesto cyn etholiad.

Dylai taliadau am unrhyw fathau eraill o hysbysebu, megis baneri mewn digwyddiad neu hysbysebu digidol mewn digwyddiad rhithwir, gael eu trin fel nawdd os byddant yn helpu i dalu am gost y digwyddiad.

Nid yw taliadau am hysbysebion nad ydynt yn helpu i dalu am gostau digwyddiad neu gyhoeddiad mewn unrhyw ffordd yn cyfrif fel nawdd. Er enghraifft, os byddwch yn gwerthu gofod hysbysebu ar gyfer eich digwyddiad ar-lein ond nad ydych yn mynd i unrhyw gostau uniongyrchol ar gyfer y digwyddiad.

Fodd bynnag, os bydd rhywun yn talu mwy na gwerth masnachol hysbyseb, bydd y gwahaniaeth rhwng y swm y mae'n ei dalu a'r gwerth masnachol yn rhodd.

Mae llawer o bleidiau gwleidyddol yn cynnal cynadleddau drwy'r flwyddyn. Mae rhai rheolau y dylai pleidiau fod yn ymwybodol ohonynt sy'n gymwys i daliadau y mae pleidiau yn eu cael tuag at eu cynadleddau.

Mae rhai pleidiau gwleidyddol yn cynnig lle i arddangoswyr osod stondinau mewn cynadleddau. Mae Deddf Pleidiau Gwleidyddol, Etholiadau a Refferenda 2000 (PPERA) yn darparu bod y Comisiwn yn gosod “uchafswm cyfradd” ac na chaiff achosion o logi'r stondinau hyn eu hystyried yn nawdd o dan y trothwy hwn. Mae'r Comisiwn wedi gosod uchafswm cyfraddau ar gyfer stondinau ffisegol mewn cynadleddau a stondinau mewn cynadleddau digidol.

Os bydd plaid wleidyddol yn cynnal cynhadledd ddigidol ac yn cynnig cyfleoedd hyrwyddo byw ar y llwyfan ar-lein y mae'n ei ddefnyddio, gellir ei ystyried fel stondin mewn cynhadledd ddigidol. Mae nodweddion cyffredin stondin mewn cynhadledd ddigidol yn cynnwys:

• rhaid i'r stondin ddigidol fod ar gael i'w llogi drwy gydol y gynhadledd
• rhaid bod rhyw lefel o ryngweithio amser real rhwng y sawl sy'n arddangos a'r rhai sy'n bresennol
• rhaid iddi fod yn fyw
• hysbyseb neu faner (neu rywbeth tebyg) ar wefan neu lwyfan lletya'r gynhadledd (noder: ni fyddai hysbyseb ar wefan heb yr elfennau eraill yn cyfrif fel stondin ddigidol ynddi'i hun)

Nid oes angen trin taliadau o hyd at £7,000 (heb gynnwys TAW) am stondin ddigidol fel nawdd nac unrhyw fath arall o rodd.

Dylid trin unrhyw swm uwchlaw £7,000 (heb gynnwys TAW) rydych yn ei gael fel nawdd, ac felly fel rhodd i'r blaid. Rhaid i chi roi gwybod am y rhodd hon os bydd y swm rydych yn ei dderbyn gan un ffynhonnell yn fwy na'r trothwy adrodd perthnasol.

Os byddwch yn codi pris uwch na £7,000 (heb gynnwys TAW) am stondin ddigidol, rydym yn disgwyl i chi gadw cofnodion digonol i ddangos y trafodyn hwn. Mae hyn yn cynnwys manylion am y pris a godwyd gennych am y stondin a sut y gwnaethoch gyfrifo'r pris hwn. Efallai y byddwn yn gofyn am gael gweld eich cofnodion at ddibenion sicrwydd.

Nid oes angen trin taliadau o hyd at £15,000 (heb gynnwys TAW) am stondin ffisegol 3m x 3m fel nawdd nac unrhyw fath arall o rodd.

Dylai unrhyw swm uwchlaw £15,000 (heb gynnwys TAW) rydych yn ei gael am stondin 3m x 3m gael ei drin fel nawdd, ac felly fel rhodd i'r blaid. Rhaid i chi roi gwybod am y rhodd hon os bydd y swm rydych yn ei dderbyn gan un ffynhonnell yn fwy na'r trothwy adrodd perthnasol.

Gall swm pro rata uwch fod yn gymwys i stondinau sy'n fwy na 3m x 3m, ond nid oes angen cyfrifo swm is ar sail pro rata am stondinau llai o faint.

Os byddwch yn codi pris uwch na £15,000 (heb gynnwys TAW) am stondin sy'n fwy na 3m x 3m, rydym yn disgwyl i chi gadw cofnodion digonol i ddangos y trafodyn hwn. Mae hyn yn cynnwys manylion am faint y stondin, pa bris a godwyd gennych a sut y gwnaethoch gyfrifo'r pris hwn. Efallai y byddwn yn gofyn am gael gweld eich cofnodion at ddibenion sicrwydd.

Os byddwch yn defnyddio pris pro rata uwch am stondin ffisegol sy'n fwy na 3m x 3m mewn cynhadledd, rhaid trin unrhyw swm rydych yn ei gael sy'n uwch na'r pris perthnasol fel rhodd i'r blaid.

Mae rhai pleidiau gwleidyddol yn cynnal digwyddiadau ategol a chyfarfodydd eraill yng nghynadleddau eu plaid. Os byddwch yn cael taliadau i gynnal y digwyddiadau hyn, bydd y taliadau hyn yn cyfrif fel nawdd.

Yn yr achos hwn, dim ond gan roddwr a ganiateir y gellir derbyn unrhyw daliadau dros £500. Dylid ystyried gwerth llawn y taliad a geir a'i drin fel nawdd, ac felly fel rhodd i'r blaid. Rhaid i'r blaid roi gwybod am hyn os bydd y swm rydych yn ei dderbyn gan un ffynhonnell yn fwy na'r trothwyon ar gyfer rhoi gwybod am roddion.

Gweler Pa roddion a benthyciadau y mae angen i chi roi gwybod amdanynt? i gael manylion am y trothwyon adrodd.

Mae'n bosibl y bydd rhai pleidiau yn cynnig gostyngiadau cyffredinol pan brynir pecyn cyfunol o eitemau sy'n ymwneud â digwyddiad gyda'i gilydd, er enghraifft stondin mewn cynhadledd, nifer o basys mynediad, a nifer o seddi mewn cinio.

Os byddwch yn cynnig pecyn cynhadledd, bydd angen i chi ystyried pob rhan o'r pecyn er mwyn asesu a oes angen rhoi gwybod amdano.

Efallai y bydd rhai elfennau wedi'u heithrio, megis tâl mynediad, lle caiff elfennau eraill o'r pecyn, megis mathau o hysbysebu nad ydynt wedi'u heithrio, eu trin fel nawdd os byddant yn helpu i dalu am gostau'r digwyddiad.

Wrth gyfrifo gwerth nawdd, dylid ystyried swm llawn y taliad a geir a rhoi gwybod amdano os yw'n fwy na'r trothwyon uchod.

Ni ddylid gwneud unrhyw ddidyniad ar gyfer unrhyw werth masnachol, neu fudd i'r noddwr, ac ati.

Digwyddiadau a chiniawau i godi arian

Os caiff digwyddiad ei gynnal gan neu ar ran plaid (neu uned gyfrifyddu plaid), neu sefydliad a reoleiddir neu unigolyn arall, rhaid trin cymorth i helpu i dalu am gostau'r digwyddiad fel nawdd. 

Ar gyfer taliadau am le neu fwrdd mewn cinio a drefnir gan y blaid neu sefydliad a reoleiddir neu unigolyn arall, bydd y gwahaniaeth rhwng gwerth y cinio a'r swm a delir yn rhodd.

Ymdrin â TAW

Lle mae taliad nawdd yn cynnwys TAW, bydd p'un a ddylid rhoi gwybod am yr elfen TAW fel rhan o'r nawdd yn dibynnu ar y ffeithiau. Er enghraifft, pe byddai'r blaid wedi bod yn atebol am y TAW pe na bai wedi'i thalu, yna mae ei thalu o fudd i'r blaid a dylid rhoi gwybod amdani fel nawdd.

Nawdd gan gwmnïau

Lle mae cwmni yn gwneud taliad a gaiff ei drin fel nawdd, ystyrir bod y swm cyfan yn rhodd o dan gyfraith etholiadol.

Felly bydd angen i gwmnïau sicrhau eu bod wedi cydymffurfio ag unrhyw reolaethau cymwys ynghylch gwneud rhodd wleidyddol o dan gyfraith cwmnïau.

If you receive a donation and it isn’t permissible, you must return it within 30 days. If your party keeps the impermissible donation after the 30 days, you are deemed to have accepted it. 

If your party accepts an impermissible donation, your party may be subject to civil sanctions. The party and the treasurer may also have committed criminal offences. Any potential breach will be dealt with in accordance with our Enforcement Policy.

If you’ve accepted an impermissible donation, you should tell us as soon as possible.

You must record:

• the name of the source, if known
• the amount of the donation, if money, or the nature and value of the donation if non-money
• the manner in which the donation was made
• the date you received the donation
• the date you returned the donation
• the action you took to return the donation (for example, the person or institution you returned it to)

You must include all impermissible donations in your quarterly report.

How do you return an impermissible donation?

If you know who the donor is, you must return it to them within 30 days of receiving the donation. 

If the donation is from an unidentified source (for example, an anonymous £600 money donation), you must return it within 30 days of receiving the donation to: 

• the person who transferred the donation to you; or 
• the financial institution used to transfer the donation

If you cannot identify either, you must send the donation to the Electoral Commission. We will pay it into the Consolidated Fund, which is managed by HM Treasury.

If any interest has been gained on the donation before you return it, you can keep it. This is not treated as a donation and it does not need to be reported.

Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), the following types of transactions are regulated:

• loans of money
• credit facilities, such as credit cards and overdrafts
• securities or guarantees for a party’s obligations to someone else

Only transactions with a value of more than £500 are covered by the controls.

In this guidance, we use the term ‘loans’ to refer to all of these transactions.

Loans of £500 or less

Loans with a value of £500 or less are outside the scope of PPERA and you do not need to record or report them.

You can only enter into a loan with certain permissible sources. Please see Who can you accept donations and loans from? for the full list of permissible sources. You must complete permissibility checks before you enter into a loan as entering into a loan with an impermissible source is a criminal offence. 

You must satisfy yourselves that the source is permissible each time a loan is made, even if you have made permissibility checks for past loans from the same source. You should also carry out regular checks throughout the term of the loan to make sure that the source is still permissible. This is because the source must remain permissible for the whole period of the loan. 

You should keep a record of all your permissibility checks to show that you have followed the rules.

If a source isn’t permissible or they become impermissible at any point during the loan period, the transaction is void under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). You must still repay a loan that is void and the Commission may apply to the courts to recover the money if it is not repaid.

If you have entered into an impermissible loan, or a loan becomes impermissible during the loan period, please read What do you do if you have a loan from an impermissible source? for further guidance on the actions you must take.

If the loan allows any interest to be added to the total amount you borrow, you don’t need to include this in the value of the loan.

If a source isn’t permissible or they become impermissible at any point during the loan period, the transaction is void. It has no legal effect and you must pay back anything you owe. You must therefore continue to check the permissibility of the source throughout the term of the loan.

If you have entered into a loan with an impermissible source, you should let us know as soon as you become aware the source is impermissible.

You must record these details:

• the same details for a permissible loan (see What must you record when you enter into a loan?)
• details of how you dealt with the transaction, for example, how you repaid the loan

You must include all impermissible loans in your quarterly report.

Public funds

Public funds received by registered parties are permissible donations, except for grants paid towards security costs at party conferences.

What do you need to record?

You will need to record:

• the full name and address of the organisation making the payment to the party, e.g., House of Commons Fees Office
• the provision under which the payment to the party has been made, e.g., Resolution of the House of Commons (give date and number, if applicable) 

Visits outside the UK

Payments received by registered parties to meet reasonable qualifying costs incurred in connection with a visit outside the UK by a member or officer of the party are treated as permissible donations.

Qualifying costs in relation to a visit include travelling to and from the UK, or travelling, accommodation or subsistence costs while on the visit.

What do you need to record?

You will need to record:

• the full name and address of the person or organisation that funded the visit
• the date(s) on which the visit took place
• the country or countries in which the visit took place

You must report certain donations and loans to us so we can publish them to provide transparency for voters. We publish details of the amounts and the donors and lenders on our website. We do not publish the addresses of individuals who donate or lend.1

You must submit quarterly reports showing donations accepted and loans your party entered into during each reporting period. You must report all impermissible donations dealt with (returned or forfeited) and all impermissible loans entered into during the relevant reporting period. You must also report certain changes to existing loans. There are separate reports for donations and for loans.

We use ‘benefits’ to refer to both donations and loans over £500. Benefits of £500 or under are not covered by the law and do not need to be recorded, added together or reported.2

The reporting requirements below apply to benefits accepted by a central party organisation. If your party has accounting units, the central party treasurer is responsible for reporting benefits from accounting units as well.3  A different reporting threshold applies to accounting units. You can find more information in the section on Parties with accounting units.

Permissible benefits

Parties are required to report benefits that exceed a set threshold, whether this is by a single donation or through multiple benefits. This ensures there is parity between single and aggregated donations and loans. 

In the legislation, multiple benefits are reportable when the “aggregate amount” of the benefits exceeds the reporting threshold. In the guidance, we call this grouping benefits.

The first time the total of all permissible donations accepted or loans entered into from the same source in the same calendar year exceeds £11,180, you must report these benefits. This may be a single donation or loan of over £11,180, or multiple benefits which together add up to more than £11,180.4

Once you have accepted a benefit or group of benefits of over £11,180 in a calendar year, for the rest of the year you must report any additional benefits from the same source each time the total of benefits that have not previously been required to be reported exceeds £2,230.5

You must add permissible benefits:

• over £500
• from the same source 
• to the same section of the party (central party or an accounting unit)
• in the same calendar year 
• accepted since the last reportable benefit (if any)

You should add benefits in the order that you have accepted them. You must report a group of benefits when the total exceeds the reporting threshold (either £11,180 or £2,230).1  All benefits in the group must be reported in the quarter that the total accepted exceeds the reporting threshold.2  Each benefit in the group must be recorded and reported individually.

A group of benefits can include any combination of donations and loans. For example, multiple donations, multiple loans or a combination of both. If a group of benefits includes both donations and loans, you must identify this in your quarterly reports.3

A group of benefits may include a single benefit which is itself over the reporting threshold, if it is the benefit that takes the total in the group over the threshold.

Parties with accounting units must also report permissible donations accepted, impermissible donations dealt with, and loans entered into by their accounting units.1  You must also report certain changes to existing loans.

Accounting unit treasurers do not report to us separately. They must give all the relevant information on benefits to the central party treasurer when requested to do so. The central party treasurer is legally responsible for reporting benefits received by the central party and by accounting units.2

Permissible benefits

You must report permissible benefits to an accounting unit each time the total of benefits accepted:

• from the same source
• in the same calendar year
• that have not previously been required to be reported exceeds £2,230.

Impermissible benefits

You must report all impermissible donations dealt with and loans over £500 entered into during that quarter. You do not need to add together impermissible benefits.

Changes to loans

You must report the following changes to the details of permissible loans you have already reported to us: 

• full repayments3
• changes to the terms4
• adding or removing permissible participants from the loan  
• adding an impermissible participant to the loan5  (this makes the transaction void. Please see What do you do if you have a loan from an impermissible source? for the actions you must take)

You do not need to report partial repayment of a loan.

End of year sweep

In Q1-Q3, you should not add together benefits from the same source accepted by different sections of the party. At the end of the calendar year, in your Q4 reporting, you must take an extra step to report benefits from the same source accepted by different sections of the party: the end of year sweep.6

Key steps

• Step 1: You should complete your Q4 reports as normal, reporting benefits to the central party and accounting units which meet the reporting thresholds.
• Step 2: You must then identify any permissible benefits that have been accepted by accounting units at any point in the year, but have not been reported because they are under the reporting threshold. 
• Step 3: These benefits should be treated as if they have been accepted by the central party on the last day of the year (31 December).
• Step 4: You must report these benefits in groups if they meet the central party reporting threshold which applies on that date. This will either be £11,180, or, if the central party has already accepted benefits of over £11,180 from that source during the year, it will be £2,230.

These benefits may be grouped with other unreported benefits from the same source which have been accepted by the central party. When grouping benefits, you should start with any unreported benefits to the central party and then add any unreported benefits to accounting units in the order that they were accepted.

If a group exceeds the threshold, you must report the benefits individually, giving the details of the accounting unit that accepted them, and the date that they were accepted by the accounting unit. In your Q4 reports, you must identify benefits that you are reporting as part of the end of year sweep.7

When a UK Parliamentary general election (UKPGE) is called you must report to us every week, unless you have made a declaration to us that you will not be standing any candidates at the election.

You can make this declaration by submitting a completed Form RP6 to us at any time up until seven days after the election is called. You can withdraw the declaration if your party decides to stand candidates.

When a UKPGE is called, we will write to you to let you know how to report to us and we will put details on our website. Please see our party guidance for UK Parliamentary general elections for more information on pre-poll reporting.