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)...

[TitusPullo]

I am aware of what Gift Aid is and how it works thanks. I am also a Chartered Accountant who has spent a stint in the voluntary sector.

Just be aware of what you are gift aiding vs your expected income. That is it. If you are really worried wait until 5th April and then make a donation. No one was ever made bankrupt by HMRC because they gift aided their entry fee to a NT property. We are talking a couple of quid. I doubt HMRC even check to that level, in fact I’m pretty sure they don’t.

You are scaremongering and could cause people who pay an average level of tax and donate to charity every now and again to stop providing charities with a vital source of income by making it sound like if you Gift Aid your £10 donation, HMRC are going to send you a big fat bill and take your house.

I have seen Gift Aid charges in the thousands but guess what they had donated hundred of thousands. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but just because it does doesn’t make the system inherently dangerous for your average earner/donor.

[childmaintenanceserviceinquiry]

Titus: dangerous from a financial point of view. It is a legally binding commitment that if you commit to gift aid for a charity and have not paid enough tax then you personally are liable. The wording also mostly includes that any payment you have made to that charity for the previous 4 years are also gift aided.

Whenever I am asked to gift aid I am never asked if I pay enough tax to cover the payment or have done over the previous 4 years. I am a chartered accountant of over 30 years. I query it every time. Staff are shockingly trained. I wasn't aware that I could amend this standard wording. This tax year I have done so.

[londonrach]

Titus..im self employed...it is in my case. Especially if going back 4 years as last year i had a baby so no income and we struggling without a sudden tax bill. Luckily i knew how dangerous gift aid is so have refused. Very glad i did now. Op maybe now understands why people turn gift aid down. I dont understand why you would give access to your tax but thats me..

[TitusPullo]

Gift Aid isn’t dangerous, what a ridiculous thing to say. Just keep an eye on it. The only time I have ever seen issues is when people have donated thousands in a year where their income has dipped. A lot of charities rely on Gift Aid.

[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.

[londonrach]

And mailing.

[londonrach]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[TyneTeas]

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

[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.

[londonrach]

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

[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

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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]

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?).

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?