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[MSE Andrea]

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the

Charity - Pay less (or nowt) give more article.

To discuss or ask a question about this article: click reply

[Murphy_The_Cat]

what is the discussion about ?????

MTC ;D

[John Gray]

Could the heading on the original article be edited, please?!

And could Martin think about the following question:

A number of garden and woodland charities (for example) are asking their visitors to donate their "entry fees" via Gift Aid, and thus obtain "free entrance" to the garden or woodland.

What is the position about claiming back either the whole donation, or 22% or 40% according to your highest tax band, from the Inland Revenue via your tax return?

Unless I misunderstand the situation, I believe that no tax claims can be
made as a "membership subscription or to pay for goods & services supplied".

This would be even more relevant if the charity was asking you to Gift Aid your payment for their charity raffle tickets!

I've read through "IR65 Giving to charities by individuals (February 2004)" (as you do), but I can't find the answer to this question!

Thanks

John Gray

[Savvy_Sue]

I'm as surprised as John Gray is by the apparent change in the rules which does now seem to allow you to Gift Aid money which you are giving in exchange for a 'service' or benefit. But I am sure that it is now allowed in some circumstances, because it is not just gardens and woodlands doing this. I am able to Gift Aid the subs paid for my son's membership of a well known youth organisation. I was astonished to be offered the form, getting on for two years ago now I'd say, but the invitation to Gift Aid had come down from 'on high' and seems to apply to all groups, not just a whim from the group which first gave me the form.

Since I'm not in the happy position of being a higher rate taxpayer and no longer need to do a tax return I don't know if the IR has ever queried such gifts from the individual's point of view, but I'm quite sure these large and august organisations would NOT be inviting us to Gift Aid our subscriptions and entrance fees if the taxman wasn't happy about it!

From a charity administrator's point of view I would however be interested in the chapter and verse of this: we recently organised a big event and I asked whether we could include a Gift Aid declaration on the form for ordering tickets. In the end we decided not to because we weren't sure of the details: plus of course one person may be ordering tickets on behalf of 10 others, which gets quite complicated to work out exactly what is or is not legitimately claimable.

[JayneH]

As a group treasurer of a well known youth organisation, I can confirm that we are encouraged to ask parents to gift aid. In fact it forms the bulk of our fund raising.

[John Gray]

Savvy_Sue: you can spend many happy minutes perusing the Inland Revenue's guidance on Gift Aid.

A search on the IR website pulls out some other stuff, too...

John

[Savvy_Sue]

Originally Posted by John Gray

Savvy_Sue: you can spend many happy minutes perusing the Inland Revenue's guidance on Gift Aid.

A search on the IR website pulls out some other stuff, too...

thank you: a cure for insomnia looms ... although IF we ever recover from the last event, we'll try to be more organised and ask the questions at an earlier stage than we managed this time.

[tluscombe]

Please just click on the link below, scroll down to the big blue
square, click on it and easyJet will donate 25p to the leukaemia
charity, The Anthony Nolan Trust.

Please forward on to everyone you know, sit back and feel great about
having done something good today!

http://www.easyjet.com/EN/About/charity.html

[ekekiman]

In case anyone's missed it there's a large web site entirely devoted to this topic (how to give effectively to charity), with transparency rankings and descriptions of 600 charities:

http://www.intelligentgiving.com

[Russyfoot]

Our PTA has just discovered http://www.everyclick.com/. A simple search engine that donates half it's revenue to your chosen charity for every search you do. You can search for a charity by location or activity. So far we've raised £15 in a month with only 10 people signed up. Worth investigating.

[rjocal]

Top-tip for moneysaving when donating to charity:

Don't use third-party websites like Justgiving.com!

Justgiving states that it takes 5.75% of the donation as a fee (inc VAT). However, this is deducted from the grossed-up amount after Giftaid has been applied. From a purely ethical standpoint, at least, this seems to contradict the purpose of Giftaid: the principle is surely that the taxman is relinquishing your tax only on condition that it goes to charity? Giftaid should not instead enable your tax to boost the profits of a commercial venture like Justgiving!

Anyway, when you compare the total fees (including credit card charges) with the initial donation, the proportion disappearing is more like 9%. (e.g. £10 donation, 89-90p fee)

Far better to go direct to the charity's own website and let them have all your hard earned cash - and the tax you paid on it - by cutting out the middle man!

[Savvy_Sue]

Originally Posted by rjocal

Far better to go direct to the charity's own website and let them have all your hard earned cash - and the tax you paid on it - by cutting out the middle man!

Fine, IF the charity has online giving facilities via their website. Which ours does not, and does not intend to get.

The costs of implementing and maintaining a secure online giving facility aren't trivial: if a charity has them, SOME of your gift will be going towards this, even if you don't see it happening.

[GiveItBack]

Originally Posted by ekekiman

In case anyone's missed it there's a large web site entirely devoted to this topic (how to give effectively to charity), with transparency rankings and descriptions of 600 charities:

http://www.intelligentgiving.com

I'm not the biggest fan of intelligent giving, although it does have some good advice, some potential benefits, and strong ambitions.

[everyclick]

It's true that third party sites (like Everyclick) take some form of payment from donations and other fundraising.

In Everyclick's case it's because we need to pay for the card services which allow people to donate to any registered UK charity online, even if the charity does not have its own online payment facility.

Everyclick takes 4.8% before Gift Aid is added, but we don't charge charities a penny to use the site unlike other sites which makes Everyclick the best value for charities.

[portal]

Just phoned my tax office. They say form P810 has been discontinued, and that if you are a higher rate tax payer and wish to claim the 20% difference between the gift-aid rebate to the charty and your nominal rate of tax, then you need to write to them with a letter - confirming your sources of income, and any donations.