Gift Aid is an amazing scheme from the Government which allows tax relief on donations and means an extra 25% of the donation for the charity or community group of your choice. If you are a UK taxpayer, donating your own money and you are not receiving any benefit as a result of your gift you are able to claim Gift Aid.
We ask three questions to determine whether donations are eligible for Gift Aid:
- Is this donation your own money? i.e. it has not come from anyone else e.g. a business, friends, family or a collection.
- Is this money the proceeds from the sale of goods or provision of service e.g. a cake sale, auction or car wash?
- Are you receiving a benefit from this donation e.g. entry to an event, raffle or sweepstake?
Gift Aid can only be claimed if you are donating your own money, not funds you have collected from other people. This might include collecting money in your office or from family members or on the street. The person claiming Gift Aid must be the same person making the donation so if you are making a donation where someone else has given you money unfortunately this is not eligible for Gift Aid. This also means that funds raised from selling goods or services will not be eligible for Gift Aid
Gift Aid can only be claimed if you are making a genuine donation and are not getting something of value in return. Examples of “donations” where you may be receiving a benefit include, but are not limited to:
- Some types of membership subscriptions;
- Ticket sales;
- Lotteries or raffles;
- Any other trading, e.g. buying sports equipment;
- Where a person connected with the supporter is receiving the benefit e.g. their child;
- Where you are donating to the fundraising page of a relative who is taking part in an adventure fundraising activity paid for by the Charity for whom they are raising funds.
For more details on the rules around claiming Gift Aid please see HMRC's website here - www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/gift_aid/rules.
If you are unsure whether a donation you are making is eligible for Gift Aid you can also contact our Help Desk team via help@localgiving.org.