Non-party campaigners: Scottish Parliamentary elections

Registered non-party campaigners must report details of their spending on regulated campaign activities and details of any reportable donations they received towards this spending to us after the election. We call this report a spending and donations return. 

Before you complete and submit your spending and donations return, you should make sure that you have carried out permissibility checks on all regulated donations over £500.

There is no specific reporting period for donations in your spending and donations return. Under the law you must include donations you received as a registered non-party campaigner towards your spending on regulated campaign activities at any time, where the following reporting criteria is met. This includes donations for regulated campaign spending that you received outside of the regulated period.

Permissible donations

You must report donations whenever the total amount accepted from the donor towards meeting your spending on regulated campaign activity exceeds £7,500. This may be a single donation of more than £7,500, or multiple donations (over £500) which add up to more than £7,500.1  You must only include donations over £500 when adding together multiple donations from the same donor.

You must also report the total value of any other donations you accepted between £500 and £7,500 received for the purpose of meeting spending on regulated campaign activity.2  These are donations that are not reportable individually as the total does not exceed £7,500. You do not need to provide any more information about these donations.

Impermissible donations

You must report all donations over £500 from impermissible or unidentifiable donors received for the purpose of meeting spending on regulated campaign activity. You do not need to add together impermissible donations.

What details must you report?

For donations you have accepted that are (or add up to) over £7,500, you must report:

• the required details for the type of donor3  (please see Who can you accept donations from? for guidance on the details you must record for each donor type)
• the amount of the donation, if monetary, or the nature and value of the donation if non-monetary4
• the date you received the donation
• the date you accepted the donation5

For donations from impermissible or unidentifiable donors you must report:

• the name of the donor, if known, or the way the donation was made6
• the amount of the donation, if monetary, or the nature and value of the donation if non-monetary7
• the date you received the donation8
• the date you returned the donation9
• the action you took to return the donation (for example, the person or institution you returned it to)10

Crowdfunding platform fees

Crowdfunding platforms may charge fees for donation transactions, transfers of funds, and for using their platform. These fees count as an election expense, and you must report them in your return under the accommodation and administrative costs category. 

These fees may be a percentage of the donations you receive. You must report the full value of donations received11  and report the fees separately as election spending. It is acceptable for these fees to be aggregated and reported as one line of spending in your return.

After the election

You will need to report these details in your return. You can find more information about the return, and when you need to submit it, in Completing your return.

If you are unsure about which reporting requirements apply, you can contact us for advice.