Claiming Tax back through Gift Aid
We are very grateful for all the donations that we receive. If you are a tax payer in the UK and want to make sure you maximise the benefit of the donation you make to our charity, it is necessary to provide details required by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Donations online will automatically capture this information. If however you provide a cheque payment or a donation through a will you will need to provide this additional information.
What is the information we require for HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs)?
HMRC are now requiring gift aid forms to be completed by each donor in order for the charity to collect the additional 25% Gift Aid.
- An individual donor who will make donations by cheque, bank transfer, larger cash or reqular payments should complete the following form
- A fund-raiser can collect gift details by completing a simpler form.
- For cash donations – multiple donors
- For cheque donations – multiple donors
- When fund raising or donating online, the services we use (Virginmoneygiving.com & Justgiving.com) will collect the required information online.
What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid increases the value of all your charity donations by allowing charities to reclaim basic rate tax on your gift. If you are paying higher rate tax you can claim extra relief on your donations. If you claim higher Personal Allowances or tax credits, Gift Aid donations can sometimes increase your entitlement.
How it works
For those who pay UK tax and give to charities (including voluntary contributions) the Gift Aid scheme is for you. Gift Aid donations are regarded as having basic rate tax deducted by the donor. Charities take your donation – which is money you’ve already paid tax on – and reclaim the basic rate tax from HMRC. Currently, basic rate tax is 20 percent, so this means that if you give £10 using Gift Aid, it’s worth £12.50 to the charity. For your donations to be eligible for Gift Aid you must pay an amount of income tax and / or capital gains tax for each tax year (6 April one year to 5 April the following year) that is at least equal to the tax that all charities reclaim on your donations in the same year.
Keep a record
It is important that you keep a record of the total amount of your Gift Aid donations for each tax year as higher rate tax payers can reduce their tax bill. If you complete a tax return you can tell HMRC about your Gift Aid donations by completing the section on Gift Aid payments. If you don’t complete a return, you can give the details on form P810 Tax Review – available from your Tax Office, or telephone the Tax Office and ask them to make a change to your tax code.
