Do I tick gift aid? SAHM by DH works

[Zenlifeforme]

Hi

this seems like a minor question but I want to get it right….

I am currently a SAHM, my income consists of a mix of my maternity pay that I saved from when I worked (in my personal bank account), and money that my husband earns and I use for shopping etc (joint account).

do I tick tax payer so charities can claim gift aid? The money in my personal account came from a job where I earned under the tax threshold, so I’m thinking don’t tick I’m a tax payer when I use with my personal account. But paying for anything on the joint account, I’m confused. That money is subject to (a fair amount) of tax, as was earned by my DH.

But is gift aid just based on our names? I book a lot of stuff for me and the kids so I’m the one doing stuff and putting my name to it. And in the eyes of the taxman he ‘gives’ me money so to speak so then it’s not taxed and therefore I shouldn’t tick it. Yeh, or no?

I’ve been ticking not a tax payer up til now as I don’t want to get it wrong. But if I’m making charities lose out I would want to tick it. There’s always that message saying how important it is to help them.

thanks a lot if anyone knows.

*just to clarify why I have mat pay left, I saved it all up and portioned it out over the months. But my mat period finished in June and have agreed a career break with work, so I’m def not in employment with them.

if you don't pay tax then you are not a tax payer and you can't do gift aid. it is per the person not per the household.

You are not currently personally a taxpayer (if I read your post correctly) so you can't tick for gift aid. This annoyed me immensely when I was a SAHM as all the money I spent had had tax paid on it (in DH's income) so it felt wrong that they couldn't reclaim it.

You need to have paid at least enough income tax or cgt to cover the amount claimed back in gift aid.
So no, if you're not paying tax, then you need to opt out.

Does your maternity pay count as being able to gift aid?
Or as its from a joint account that a taxable wage has gone into, maybe the payment has come from a tax paying wage.

Ahh sorry ignore my mat pay question just re-read that its saved mat leave. Sorry.

No, you can't tick gift aid when you are not the taxpayer yourself.

But you needn't feel bad about it. I am a taxpayer, but I almost never tick gift aid, and certainly not when it something like eg my kids' scout group (affluent area, really not in need of extra funds from the tax payer). Remember this is not "free" money. It is a diversion of your taxes that might otherwise go towards cash-strapped areas like NHS, education etc. I actually think it's very undemocratic that wealthy people who can afford to make large charitable donations get to withdraw part of their tax and divert it to their own pet causes.

Yes, as the other posters have said, you have to be paying enough PAYE tax or capital gains tax to cover the GA claimed. When you tick the box, you have to give your details (name, House no and postcode). The only thing you can do is to put donations in your husband’s name (with his consent of course). HMRC can and do check sometimes, and can reclaim incorrectly claimed GA back off the person who signed the form (ie you).

DH used to buy anything we could gift aid (such as paying Scout Subs... our Scout definitely needs it for building works!)

If you want the charity to benefit from gift aid, you could donate in your DHs name and send the money from your joint account. You're just doing the admin for convenience and if anyone ever asks, which is probably unlikely, your DH will be able to say he made the donation. You could always send the money from your personal account to the joint account to balance the books if needed.

don't tick it

You can't participate in gift aid at the moment.

Put all the household's charitable giving into your husband's name. Then you (he) can tick the gift aid box.

If he's a higher rate tax payer, he can also claim back the additional tax he was charged on the amount given to the charities, ie the difference between the gift aid amount reclaimed by the charity and the amount of tax that your DH actually paid on that income.
I used to do this every year on DH's behalf. Remember to make a note of all gifts, both the regular monthly direct debits and the ocasional one-off gifts, then write to HMRC at the end of each tax year to let them know. They'll either do a tax refund or make an adjustment to your DH's tax code.

We were in same position for some while as although I both work and claim an Occupational Pension my OH only had a very small Teacher's Pension - not enough to pay tax.

My advice to her was always that she could not tick gift aid.

Different now as she's doing a bit of supply.

This is an interesting reply, does claiming like this give you a sizeable tax refund? I’m not totally clear on what you mean tho. Is it just everytime we pay for anything to a charity we can claim back a proportion of the tax he paid on this charitable donation?
Most things I do with the things seem to be ran by charities eg play centres, local gardens entrance fee….. so it might be worth doing….

Thanks all for replies

My first reply was in response to @80sMum

Yes, a higher rate taxpayer can claim the remaining 20% tax that was paid on the gifted amount.

So, if a higher rate taxpayer gives £100 to charity through Gift Aid, the charity gets £125 (the donation + 20%) and the donor can reclaim £25 (the remaining 20% of the tax paid on the original £100 gift) through HMRC.
They can do this either by including it in their self-assessment tax return or, if they're taxed through PAYE, they can write to HMRC with the details of all gifts given in the relevant tax year. HMRC will then either issue a refund or amend the donor's tax code accordingly.

Here is the information about this from HMRC.

No you personally cannot as you are not a tax payer currently. Your husband can if he donates.

bit bemused you actually wrote your income is money your husband earns, that’s not your income, it’s his.

I work for a company that take charity donations.
You can only say gift aid if you are a UK taxpayer
Checks are done to make sure only UK tax payers are gift aiding

Thank you @pinkspeakers i never knew this

No, you don't pay tax so the charity can't reclaim it. If your DH donated he could tick the box so charity could reclaim his tax.