Tick the Gift Aid box on donations so charities don't miss out on £600m extra funding
Tick the Gift Aid box on your donations, government urges, as charities miss out on £600m extra funding.
People giving to charity are being encouraged by the government to declare Gift Aid on their donations, and boost the money that reaches their charity of choice at no extra cost.
The call comes after research showed that charities are losing out on potentially hundreds of millions of pounds in extra funding.
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick MP, said:
The UK has thousands of brilliant charities, all working hard to make people’s lives better. Through Gift Aid, we are already giving charities an extra £1.3 billion of funding so they can continue their important work.
We know how crucial this funding is. This is why we’ve just written to 50,000 charities to tell them about the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, which makes it even easier for charities to claim a 25% top-up on their donations.
The research, published today by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), shows that a third of eligible donations made to many of the UK’s 200,000 charities did not add Gift Aid when they could have done. This means that charities are losing out on extra funding worth nearly £600 million a year.
Gift Aid allows charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASC) to claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated. To add Gift Aid to a donation, you must have paid income or capital gains tax that year worth at least the value of the Gift Aid being added and give the charity permission to claim it. Gift Aid costs no extra to add on to your donation.
HMRC is continuing to work closely with charities to ensure they get the most out of Gift Aid, including making sure their donors understand the rules, and they fully benefit from the support it gives.
The department has also written to 50,000 charities to promote the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, introduced in 2013, to explain how easy it is to claim a 25% top-up on cash donations. The scheme does not require a declaration to be made for donations worth up to £20, making it simpler for charities to get extra support through Gift Aid.