Gift Aid

[Mosschopz]

I recently spent a day out with friends at a NT property. While sorting out the tickets my friend declined the gift aid on his. The price was no different. I didn't like to ask but why would you refuse a charity picking up a few extra beans if you are a tax payer (he was)...

[MaidOfStars]

Maybe he was close/past his gift aid limit for the tax year and didn't want to be liable for a bill?

[Leeds2]

I didn't know there was a gift aid limit, Maid! What is it?

[CantChoose]

Some people worry that the data protection of the scheme isn’t adequate, could be that. Or he’s not a UK taxpayer.

[agentdaisy]

The gift aid limit, iirc, is however much tax you pay in a year. So if you pay £50 tax per year then you can only give gift aid up to that £50 or you have to pay the difference.

A friend's dh refuses to give gift aid because he's convinced that you pay extra tax to cover the gift aid amount. No amount of telling and showing him that it comes from the tax you have to pay any way will convince him otherwise.

[JennyBlueWren]

Gift aid can't exceed the amount you pay in tax (I think). People who are out of work or who are retired might not pay enough?

[MaidOfStars]

It's a type of tax relief. Your total gift aid to charities cannot exceed the income tax you've paid in a tax year (IIRC; happy to be corrected).

Charities also claim gift aid at a rate of 25%. This means if you pay income tax in the 40% bracket, you can personally claim back the 15% difference as a rebate.

[Littlepond]

MY mum ended up with a gift aid tax bill. I always refuse gift aid as I pay very little tax and I worry about exceeding my personal limit.

[ClashCityRocker]

Also, some places used to make you fill in your address etc.

Then bombard you with crap.

Don't know if they still do it but might put someone off.

[MaidOfStars]

For clarity:
Imagine you donate £100 of your earned cash. The HMRC position is that you can have a rebate on the income tax paid on that £100 earnings. The charity claims this on your behalf, but only as if you'd paid 25% tax on it; if you paid 40% tax on any portion of it, you get that back personally (and maybe donate it to the charity?).

[Purpleball]

Some places will charge you extra to gift aid, I don’t understand why but at such places I refuse to gift aid

[MaidOfStars]

I have no idea how much gift aid a charity shop claims when I bring them a bag of clothes/books/etc. Presumably they assign a fairly generic value to donations like that? Or do they record total value when they price items?

[MongerTruffle]

I didn't know there was a gift aid limit, Maid! What is it?

You can't claim more in gift aid than you pay in income tax (National Insurance does not count).

some places used to make you fill in your address
All places have to have your address to claim gift aid from HMRC.

[londonrach]

Gift aid is vvvvv dangerous unless you have a set paye income. I refuse point blank to get involved. A friend of my mums is retired and got a bill for a amount as she hadnt paid enough tax so had to make up the short fall the charity shop had claimed back from her donations. No way do i want the goverment knowing what i donate. On top of that what stops the charity shop claiming for other donations i didnt give so pushing me above my tax limit.

[MaidOfStars]

I am now thinking that if you pay tax, never gift aid and keep a perfect record of all your charitable giving, you could claim the tax relief back on the whole shebang via self-assessment? This is what we're talking about when rich people donate to charity for tax purposes?

[TyneTeas]

Some places will charge you extra to gift aid

It's something to do with a certain proportion of the gift aid ticket price having to be a donation and not just the standard ticket price in order for the whole lot to be eligible for gift aid

[londonrach]

Maid..be careful you might get a bill if you dont pay enough tax.

[MaidOfStars]

Thanks, I keep a broad eye on it. I could plausibly put a self-assessment in for the 25%/40% difference but have never bothered.

[TyneTeas]

www.gov.uk/guidance/gift-aid-what-donations-charities-and-cascs-can-claim-on#viewing-charity-property

[averylongtimeago]

I do the gift aid claim for our local guide group.
On the gift aid form we give to the parents it clearly says that the person signing (and paying) should be a tax payer and pay more tax than we would claim back.
We have a couple of parents who don't sign as they don't pay tax, and one girl in the past whose grandparents paid her subs, who didn't sign as they were retired.

When I fill in the claim form on line, I have to put the name and address of each donor, plus the total amount of donations for the period.

TBH, the gift aid we can reclaim from the government makes a huge difference to the unit in terms of the activities we can do.

[KadabrasSpoon]

I used to work in the charity sector:

• as PP have said the limit is what you pay in tax. Depends how much you're donating really but for large donations (and usually most donations) you'd get a thank you with the details on.
  
• For hmrc purposes the charity has to keep the declaration at least 6 years iirc. This doesn't mean they can market to you unless you've said so. Huge fines coming in for unsolicited marketing under GDPR next year so most charities bring rightly very cautious now.
  
• Charity shop donations - they put a sticker on your items with a number that links to your gift aid declaration. When items are sold should get an email or letter or the gift aid amount so you can write back if you've overpaid.

[MerlinsScarf]

Re: places that charge a higher price for gift aid, TyneTees link has all the ins and outs.

Gift aid is only meant to apply to voluntary donations. So if the ticket charge is essential to access whatever it is then it's no longer a donation (there are exceptions for certain types of building admissions).

If there's an optional pound on top, the gift aid will only apply to that extra pound iirc.

[childmaintenanceserviceinquiry]

You are right to be cautious.

Any gift aid declaration is binding, so for years I have refused to gift aid due to low income below tax limits. I have now returned to work and am able to gift aid but I have amended the standard gift aid statement. It makes reference to the previous 4 tax years. I have queried this with all,organisations. No where does it state that this supposed standard declaration can be modified.

Many gift aid documents also imply you are giving consent for massive mailing. Again I have declined for these reasons ( yes you Oxfam). Although the gdpr is a total pain to implement I am looking forward to having some teeth to enforce compliance with no marketing.

[londonrach]

Child...vvv dangerous . 4 years. Its worse that i thought. I really dont see why anyone allows free access to your tax.

[londonrach]

And mailing.

[Be3Al2Si6O18]

You do not know he is a taxpayer.

On a single day in the year you do not. He has 365 other days to reduce his tax liability for example filling up his pension contributions or EIS or VCT schemes or maybe he has already gifted under Gift Aid more than his net income to charity. Or maybe he plans to do one or all of these things on April 5.