Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Selecting GiftAid when I don’t pay tax

42 replies

JurassicPark101 · 25/08/2021 10:18

Will I get into trouble for this?

It’s not something I do as a matter of course but I’ve been away with my dc for the last week and pretty much all the days out we’ve done you’ve had to book online. We went to 2 zoos/ animal farm type places both of which are run as charities. When you buy the ticket online it costs say £40 if you can GiftAid it or £45 if you can’t. Both times there was an option to pay the £40 if you can’t GiftAid but still want to pay the lower price (who wouldn’t?) but you have to call a phone line that is never answered or email the generic customer services email address. As both places had pretty limited tickets for the days we wanted, having got no reply from the phone or email after a couple of hours, I just selected the GiftAid price and booked it that way.

I wasn’t asked for my home address, DOB or anything other than an email address so I’m not sure how they’d link it to my tax payments anyway? Has anyone else done this? Am I going to be in loads of trouble or does no one really care? I’m not actually divorced from my ex husband yet, he does pay tax so I could always say I just put my name instead of his when I booked it or something, possibly?

OP posts:
Original poster
JurassicPark101 · 25/08/2021 11:17

Hopeful bump

OP posts:
doingnothing · 25/08/2021 11:53

Just pay the extra fiver ffs

UserNameNameNameUser · 25/08/2021 11:55

It’s based on the honour system for you as the person booking, but the charity could lose out if they are audited, so you are creating a risk for them.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
Comefromaway · 25/08/2021 11:57

That sounds wrong as usually entrance fees are only eligible for giftaid if you make a donation on top of the normal entry cost. (its slighty different for n annual pass)

Wrongsideofhistorymyarse · 25/08/2021 11:57

Please don't do it. You won't get in trouble but the charity might. There are huge fines for charities around Gift Aid fraud.

illuyankas · 25/08/2021 11:58

This is depressing to read.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 25/08/2021 12:00

Yeah, Gift Aid fraud is a real thing, and the venues/charities will lose out if they're audited because you're lying on the forms.

It's rubbish that nobody got back to you - I suppose they're in a massively busy period - but I wouldn't make a habit of this. It's an honour system and while there might not be an immediate comeback on you, it's a really rubbish thing to do.

Comefromaway · 25/08/2021 12:02

I'm pretty sure they have to have your name and address to claim gift aid.

8dpwoah · 25/08/2021 12:04

Sorry to jump on but I have a question about Gift Aid- in the old days I always thought if you ticked the gift aid box when booking, the charity collated that and claimed it back (in their tax return?), but there was only ever one price for admission.

I've noticed lately one major zoo near me has two prices, a gift aid one and a non-gift aid one, with the gift aid one obviously higher.

Has the way gift aid is administered changed, or of course did I have my understanding of it wrong all along? I have to confess I thought it was them being cheeky and adding a few quid on to reclaim MORE gift aid than they would still be able to claim from the standard price but reading this it seems I might have misunderstood? I did try to find an explanation on their site but nothing there.

IWantAllTheDogsInTheWorld · 25/08/2021 12:16

I used to manage a charity shop a few years ago and we were always asked when dealing with a donor ticking the gift aid box to make sure that they were definitely a UK tax payer and understood the implications of ticking that box. Apparently, there had been a complaint in one of the other shops when a donor had gift aided their donations when they weren't a tax payer (low income) and consequently had been chased by HMRC to make up the difference, which I believe was well over £100 at the time.

JennysWell · 25/08/2021 12:18

My friend had a tax bill from HMRC for this, as she doesn’t pay income tax

UserNameNameNameUser · 25/08/2021 12:19

@8dpwoah

Sorry to jump on but I have a question about Gift Aid- in the old days I always thought if you ticked the gift aid box when booking, the charity collated that and claimed it back (in their tax return?), but there was only ever one price for admission.

I've noticed lately one major zoo near me has two prices, a gift aid one and a non-gift aid one, with the gift aid one obviously higher.

Has the way gift aid is administered changed, or of course did I have my understanding of it wrong all along? I have to confess I thought it was them being cheeky and adding a few quid on to reclaim MORE gift aid than they would still be able to claim from the standard price but reading this it seems I might have misunderstood? I did try to find an explanation on their site but nothing there.

The charity is trying to make it an incentive to use gift-aid by splitting the benefit with you. So you get a slightly cheaper ticket and they get slightly more money overall because of the gift-aid element.
ExtremelyDisorganised · 25/08/2021 12:23

Didn't you have to tick a box confirming that you are a UK tax-payer? That is usual with gift aid declarations.

Bramshott · 25/08/2021 12:25

I'm sorry but I think you might (or there is the potential for you to). By ticking the Gift Aid box you're clearly indicating that you're a taxpayer and that you'll have paid enough tax this year to cover the Gift Aid. Often the declaration has a box which says something like "
I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year then it is my responsibility to pay any difference."

That said, it's dreadful that they don't make it easy for you to pay the non Gift Aid price, as part of the point of Gift Aid is what's gift aid-able is the additional donation, not the entry fee.

Comefromaway · 25/08/2021 12:28

@8dpwoah

Sorry to jump on but I have a question about Gift Aid- in the old days I always thought if you ticked the gift aid box when booking, the charity collated that and claimed it back (in their tax return?), but there was only ever one price for admission.

I've noticed lately one major zoo near me has two prices, a gift aid one and a non-gift aid one, with the gift aid one obviously higher.

Has the way gift aid is administered changed, or of course did I have my understanding of it wrong all along? I have to confess I thought it was them being cheeky and adding a few quid on to reclaim MORE gift aid than they would still be able to claim from the standard price but reading this it seems I might have misunderstood? I did try to find an explanation on their site but nothing there.

The rules of claiming gift aid is that you cannot claim it on a normal admission price, it has to include a 10% donation or be an annual pass.
HunterHearstHelmsley · 25/08/2021 12:36

You'll need to repay it if HMRC request. Was it £40 overall or per person?

Steppedonalego · 25/08/2021 12:54

@Bramshott

I'm sorry but I think you might (or there is the potential for you to). By ticking the Gift Aid box you're clearly indicating that you're a taxpayer and that you'll have paid enough tax this year to cover the Gift Aid. Often the declaration has a box which says something like " I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year then it is my responsibility to pay any difference."

That said, it's dreadful that they don't make it easy for you to pay the non Gift Aid price, as part of the point of Gift Aid is what's gift aid-able is the additional donation, not the entry fee.

Different scenario but I donated some items to a charity shop when I was a taxpayer 3 years ago, signed for Gift Aid, they were then not sold until last tax year when I no longer was. Accountant friend has confirmed that I personally need to pay the amount the charity would have claimed had I still been paying tax (as per Bramshott's quote).

Luckily I can pay but I can imagine what an unwelcome surprise this could be.

knittingaddict · 25/08/2021 12:56

I'm not a taxpayer, so when I take stuff to the charity shop I do it under my husband's name.

I wouldn't be knowingly doing what the op is to get a cheaper price.

OP after the failure of the phone line you had the option to just pay the higher price, but didn't. Not good is it?

BarbaraofSeville · 25/08/2021 14:26

The charity is trying to make it an incentive to use gift-aid by splitting the benefit with you. So you get a slightly cheaper ticket and they get slightly more money overall because of the gift-aid element

But the effect of this is that they're asking non tax payers, ie lower earners, to pay more than tax payers for entrance to the attraction and they're making it more hassle in that you have to phone/email and be ignored, rather than just booking.

It might backfire on them, because a lot of people will be tempted to choose the lower price and get the attraction into trouble with the tax office.

They should charge everyone the same and then just take the gift aid from those who are eligible rather than try to game the system, or expect the lowest paid to pay higher entrance fees.

Original poster
JurassicPark101 · 25/08/2021 14:28

The ticket price is a “donation” but obviously they don’t let you in unless you have a ticket. So I could pay for an adult and 2 kids for £40 if it was a Gift Aid donation ticket or £45 if it was a non-Gift Aid donation ticket. The tickets were pretty limited when I booked them so couldn’t sit around waiting for someone to contact me back in order to pay the £40 non-Gift Aid price.

I know that some are saying “just pay the extra” but why should non-tax payers who are almost always incredibly low income have to pay more than those that aren’t? Why not just have the same price for everyone?

OP posts:
evianlion · 25/08/2021 14:31

@Comefromaway

I'm pretty sure they have to have your name and address to claim gift aid.
Yep. And if they claim gift aid when you haven't paid enough tax to cover it then HMRC will send you a bill for the tax due.
evianlion · 25/08/2021 14:36

It might backfire on them, because a lot of people will be tempted to choose the lower price and get the attraction into trouble with the tax office.

If people complete a gift aid declaration stating they have paid enough tax to cover the donation when they haven't, they will be the ones pursued for the additional tax due not the charity.

BarbaraofSeville · 25/08/2021 14:36

They (HMRC or the venue) might be able to get your address from the payment card details.

BarbaraofSeville · 25/08/2021 14:37

@evianlion

It might backfire on them, because a lot of people will be tempted to choose the lower price and get the attraction into trouble with the tax office.

If people complete a gift aid declaration stating they have paid enough tax to cover the donation when they haven't, they will be the ones pursued for the additional tax due not the charity.

Fair enough, but many people ticking the box will either think 'nah, they'll never bother' or won't understand the implications of what the declaration means.
Roystonv · 25/08/2021 14:39

About the ticket price being a 'donation' how can they put this. Had a polite row with an attraction about this word I g but they could not explain and just kept repeating it was