Is this correct about the " do you want to donate to charity " buttons when you pay in a supermarket?

[JacknDiane]

I was told that whatever they collect in "charitable donations " ,the company reduces its tax bill by that amount?

Pretty sneaky id say

Yep

Oh I’ll say no from now on if that’s the case. Sneaky

I'm not sure - I've read similar as well as that the company already donates X and the money basically is putting towards money already spent/earmarked as part of promoting that they're doing that.

No this is incorrect. The store acts as an agent, it does not go through as their own donation , so they get no tax breaks for doing it.
Though you can declare all your charitable contributions you make, these type of donations too, so it’s YOUR tax benefit, not the store’s. What does the store get out of it? Customer goodwill and improved brand image, though obviously not if these rumours persist!

That’s not true. It makes no sense and Claude backs me up 😂

No — checkout donations don’t count as the supermarket’s donation for tax purposes.

Here’s why: when you donate at the till (e.g. “round up” or “add £1 to donate”), that money is collected on behalf of the charity, not from the supermarket’s own funds or profits. The supermarket is just acting as a collection point — the cash passes straight through to the charity, and it was never the supermarket’s income in the first place.

So:

• You technically made the donation (though most people don’t claim Gift Aid on till donations since it’s rarely set up for that)
• The supermarket gets no tax deduction — they haven’t given away any of their own money or reduced their own profit

Depends on the charity, how much it is, and how generous I’m feeling.

Yeah, as other people have said - this just isn't true because it doesn't count as the supermarket's donation.

But you can also tell that it's a lie because even if it did count as the supermarket's donation. A donation does not reduce your tax bill by an amount equal to the donation. You know this as you can't eliminate your tax bill by donating to charities instead.

No, this isn’t true. Those donations are collected by the supermarket on behalf of the charity and tax relief is not claimed.
Any business can claim some tax relief on their own corporate donations however.

I've heard in a load of cases they set up charitable funds to organise their Christmas parties and the money just goes towards that.

😂 what Tesco?! McDonald’s?! Does that even sound likely to you

No, they merely act as an agent in collecting the donations, and then pass it on.

If a charity donation is made, the shop doesn’t pay the card transaction fees.

Where did you get that from?

the card fees have nothing to do with the charity donation

There was a recent thread about "Urban Myths", some of these comments belong there.