Gift Aid is a great scheme which benefits registered charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs). If you are a Higher Rate Taxpayer, donating can also benefit you. The gift aid scheme is ran by HMRC and is a great way for both charities and the people that donate to financially benefit at the same time.
You find out more about the gift aid scheme in our free gift aid guide.
Gift aid is good charities
If a donation is made by a donor who is part of the Gift Aid Scheme then the charity or CASC can claim and extra 25p for every £1.00 donated from the government.
You donate £100.00
Charity claims 25% Gift Aid – total donation is now worth £125.00.
Gift aid if you are a higher rate taxpayer
If you are a Higher or Additional Rate taxpayer, then you can claim the difference between your tax rate (40% or 45%) and the basic rate of tax (20%) on your total charitable donation.
You pay Higher Rate tax at 40%
You donate £100.00
Charity claims Gift Aid – total donation now worth £125.00
You claim back – £25.00 (20% of £125.00).
Gift aid and what you have to do
- Register for Gift Aid – this is called a ‘Gift Aid Declaration’ and authorises the charity to claim its Gift Aid amount on your donation (they cannot claim without it).
- Donate no more than four times your total income or capital gains tax payment for that tax year.
- Check the charity or CASC is recognised.
- Keep a record of all your Gift Aid donations.
How to Claim your Higher Rate Gift Aid tax rebate
You can either ask HMRC to change your tax code to account for your Gift Aid tax relief. Or, you simply fill in the net amount you donated in the relevant section of your self assessment tax return. Your accountant should ask for your gift aid information before completing your tax return each year.
If you completed your own tax returns and haven’t included your donations you can go back and amend your previous tax returns.
If you are not already in self assessment you don’t need to register just because you want to claim tax relief on your gift aid payments.
Payroll Giving and Limited Company donations are not part of the Gift Aid Scheme and tax relief cannot be reclaimed on these amounts
Tony Shanks