Gift Aid

savetilibleed

Can anyone tell me when charities want you to participate in Gift Aid so that your donation is worth more to them, can a person who only pays tax on savings be a tax payer for this purpose. I hoped HMRC site would be clear on this but it isn't.

About 2 years ago we went to Hampton Court and they were trying to get us to sign a gift aid form so they could claim back tax on what we paid for the ticket price. I told them I wasn't taxed as I wasn't working but did pay tax on savings and was told I would need to be paying tax as a working person or if I had been paying tax on a pension. Was this right?

Thing is we want to make a charity donation this Christmas so I'd like to be really clear on where I stand in this respect. Can anyone point me to a place where it is clearly stated.

Savvy_Sue

Ideally, a Gift Aid form would be crystal clear. From memory (and I don't know if I'll have time to check this out later or not but with a bit of luck fengirl or someone else who knows will see this and put me right!) the amount of tax you pay in a year must be equal to or greater than the amount of tax which the charities can reclaim on your charitable giving.

So, suppose on your savings you pay tax of £10. You can't Gift Aid gifts on which more than £10 could be reclaimed.

I asked DH to help me with an example, but it's too late for the maths at this time of night!

It's simpler if you're only giving to one charity, of course, but if you're giving to more than one, you need to keep track of how much you've given under Gift Aid to any other charities this financial year.

I hope that helps ...

JohalaReewi

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

the amount of tax you pay in a year must be equal to or greater than the amount of tax which the charities can reclaim on your charitable giving.

Correct. Although it has to be income tax, not VAT or some other tax.

If you are paying tax on your savings' interest, this counts. However, if you are only paying tax on your savings' interest and have no other income, you are probably paying too much tax and should be getting your interest untaxed?

savetilibleed

Thanks - I knew the tax paid must be => the donation.

Whilst going through the HMRC site to calculate if I could get income gross (I can't now but perpahs with the terrible interest rates now I will) I found http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/giving-to-charities-indiv.htm#4 which is pretty clear in that it includes tax paid on savings interest to qualify.