Gift aid - an overview

Gift aid is tax relief on money donated to UK charities.

HMRC treat donations as if the donor had already deducted basic rate tax from them. The charity can then reclaim this tax to increase the value of a donation.

Gift aid rules

Donors must pay enough UK income tax and/or capital gains tax themselves to cover the amount of tax the charity will reclaim

Donors give the charity a gift aid declaration, which should include

• - their name
• - their home address
• - the charity's name
• - details of the donation - saying that it is a gift aid donation
• - confirmation that they have paid UK tax - to cover the tax the charity will reclaim.

A declaration can be made to cover individual donations,a series of donations, can cover donations made during a specified period or to cover all future donations. They can also be backdated for up to 6 years prior to the date of the declaration provided the donation was made since 6 April 2000.

To download a Gift Aid donation form click here (opens in new window)