Q. Will our project need a Contributing Third Party payment?
+
The decision to require a Contributing Third Party (CTP) payment is up to the Landfill Operator (LO) funding your project. Some LOs do not require a CTP payment. LOs can claim a tax credit for 90% of their contribution to the Landfill Communities Fund, making a 10% CTP payment necessary to balance the cost. However, some LOs may choose to cover part or all of the 10% themselves.
Q. How much should a Contributing Third Party (CTP) provide?
+
Landfill Operators (LOs) can claim a tax credit for 90% of their contributions to an EB, leaving them with a 10% shortfall. To cover this, LOs can request a donation from a Contributing Third Party (CTP). However, HMRC expects LOs to absorb some or all of this shortfall, so the amount requested from a CTP should be 10% or less of the contribution made.
Q. Can an Environmental Body fundraise to find the Contributing Third Party payment?
+
An Environmental Body (EB) is allowed to fundraise the Contributing Third Party (CTP) payment provided that it is made clear to each person at the time they make their contribution that the money will be paid to a Landfill Operator (LO) to secure Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) funding for the EB. In such cases the people making the contribution will be the CTPs.
The EB is permitted to act as an intermediary for the CTP payment where it is not practical for each CTP to pay the LO direct. The EB should contact us to obtain approval before acting as an intermediary, and in every case must keep the CTP payments separate from their own funds as the CTP contributions do not belong to the EB.
Where the EB has used fundraising, the EB should record the names and addresses of the individual CTPs where possible (and particularly where there are large individual payments). Where this is not possible then the name and date of the fundraising event may be given as the CTP. The EB should keep this record in its own project files which will be checked during a Compliance Inspection. Please see the Guidance Manual or contact us for more information on the requirements where the CTP payment comes from fundraising. Please note that CTP payments are not eligible for Gift Aid as they are not charitable donations.
Q. Can a sub-committee of the Environmental Body be the Contributing Third Party?
+
No. The Contributing Third Party (CTP) must be an entirely separate legal entity from the Environmental Body (EB). A sub-committee of the EB is not a separate legal entity and so cannot be the CTP.
Q. Can a trustee of the Environmental Body be the Contributing Third Party?
+
An individual or corporate trustee of the Environmental Body (EB) can be the Contributing Third Party (CTP) and use their own money to make the CTP payment, provided that there is no unique benefit to that CTP from any expenditure of the EB. Please see our Guidance Manual for more information on Unique Benefit and the rule that a CTP is regarded always as being a contributor.
Q. Can the local council be the Contributing Third Party?
+
A local council can be the Contributing Third Party provided it does not receive a unique benefit from any of the Environmental Body’s expenditure. Please see the Guidance Manual for more information on Unique Benefit.
Q. Are there any considerations for a Contributing Third Party?
+
A Contributing Third Party (CTP) who pays a Landfill Operator (LO) to release funds to an EB is always considered a contributor to that EB. This means the CTP cannot receive any unique benefits from the EB's transactions. This can impact future dealings, especially if the CTP is also a potential supplier, as they cannot profit from any future supplies to the EB. For more details, check our Guidance Manual on Contributing Third Parties and Unique Benefits. We've also created a CTP decision tree and examples to help you determine if a potential CTP meets Entrust's requirements. These resources are available on the CTP page of our website.
Q. What is Unique Benefit?
+
Landfill Operators (LOs) and Contributing Third Parties (CTPs) cannot receive any special benefits from their contributions that others do not get. A "Unique Benefit" means any extra advantage or profit LOs or CTPs gain beyond what the general public would receive.
Examples of unique benefits include:
(1.) An LO or CTP making a profit by supplying goods or services for the project.
(2.) An LO or CTP getting special access to a project site or facility managed by the EB.
Once an LO or CTP contributes to a project, they are always considered a contributor and cannot receive special benefits from any of the EB’s future spending.
For more details, check our Guidance Manual on Unique Benefits.
