Non-Gift Aid payments to charity and tax returns

BoGoF

As is much tax legislation.

redpete

BoGoF wrote: »

Are Scout groups registered charities that would qualify?

They should be, and if not they are losing the extra 25% they could be getting on their membership fees.

00ec25

redpete wrote: »

They should be, and if not they are losing the extra 25% they could be getting on their membership fees.

no should about it... however, that does not mean that every scout group has someone on board who actually knows what they are doing when it comes to claiming gift aid

https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/1578/registering-as-a-charity?cat=419,262

AnotherJoe

steve.h wrote: »

Hi, Dazed and confused. Thanks so much for your reply again.

I suppose what it comes down to is the fact that I don't understand why "paying on payroll before tax" and "using gift aid" are my only 2 options.

Compare to something like pension contributions. Those are tax free. So... I can either pay for them before tax via payroll, or, if I didn't do that and still pay into a pension, I can make a claim to get the tax back on those contributions on my tax return. It's just a tax-free outgoing I incurred that I need to claim the tax back on.

So, non-Gift Aid payments to charity should be exactly the same shouldn't they? They are a tax-free outgoing that I paid for after tax, so I should be able to claim the tax back, surely?

The answer is what your parents woudl have come up with when you asked yet another exasperating question.

"because they are".

Write to your MP if you'd like additional options. :rotfl:

singhini

OP, I wouldn't rely on the Gov website as its for information purposes only, I would read the actual tax manuals (the ones that refer to each piece of legislation with an EIM number [I think that's what they start with, not sure?]).


I was under the impression you could only claim tax relief on money given to registered UK charities and not just any charity. Also you will need to be able to show you did actually gift the money i.e. have you got some sort of receipt or proof.


Finally you can only claim the additional relief not all the tax relief (example: so your a 40% tax payer and for every £100 you give, the charity claims £25 and you also claim back £25 thus it only actually cost you £75). You cant claim back both lots of the £25 (you only have the right to claim back one lot of £25 while its upto the charity to claim their £25 [if they do claim it or don't claim it is their business not yours].


This was my understanding having been asked by HMRC to show proof I did make the charity contributions I said I had.


obviously you know if you haven't paid the tax in the first place you cant claim it.


lastly your comparison with pension relief is not quite comparable. You could make pension contributions via salary sacrifice and 100% of the intended money would go into the pension pot. Alternatively you could put money into a pension pot which has been taxed and claim the tax relief back (the pension company would claim 20% and that money would go into the pension pot, while the 20% your claiming back would not go into the pension pot but be sent to you as a cheque by HMRC and probably sit in your regular savings account (and just like the gift aid mentioned above [but the opposite way around], the 20% your claiming back in the pension example from HMRC is your business and not the pension companies to concern themselves with).


Lastly, don't rely on a single word ive mentioned here, I'm no expert.


Good luck and if your trying to reduce the amount of tax your paying you might want to read about the tax relief for employees section https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees (I claim the £18 per month for working at home).

sheramber

Gift Aid enables the charity to claim basic rate tax you paid on the money. It does not enable you to claim the basic rate tax back.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-detailed-guidance-notes/chapter-3-gift-aid

steve.h_2

sheramber wrote: »

Gift Aid enables the charity to claim basic rate tax you paid on the money. It does not enable you to claim the basic rate tax back.

Thanks Sheramber. Yep - I understand what Gift Aid is for. But as you can see from the title of my post "Non-Gift Aid payments...." I am talking about payments to charity where Gift Aid was not used.

00ec25

steve.h wrote: »

Thanks Sheramber. Yep - I understand what Gift Aid is for. But as you can see from the title of my post "Non-Gift Aid payments...." I am talking about payments to charity where Gift Aid was not used.

then why do you think you can claim tax back? You cannot, if you don't like that then take it up with your MP, because they made the rules

steve.h_2

00ec25 wrote: »

then why do you think you can claim tax back?

Because, as you can see from my earlier posts, the gov.uk website indicates that ANY payment to a registered charity is tax free. If they weren't, the government wouldn't give you the option of making those payments via payroll from your pre-tax income. Yet, they DO give you that option.

00ec25 wrote: »

You cannot, if you don't like that then take it up with your MP, because they made the rules

Yep - that seems to be the general consensus of this forum ie. whether it makes sense or not, that's the way it is, so live with it. I was simply trying to find out if there WAS a way to claim the tax back via tax returns. It would appear the answer to that question is "no".
I'm not sure I feel strongly enough about it that I will spend time contacting my MP, but thanks for the suggestion.

00ec25

steve.h wrote: »

Because, as you can see from my earlier posts, the gov.uk website indicates that ANY payment to a registered charity is tax free.

what I can see from your earlier posts is that you don't read the full text in context, it says nothing of the sort. You may also not be aware that the .Gov website content is aimed at people able to read medium sized words, nothing more.

What is actually says is (my numbering and bolding) :

The tax goes to you or the charity. How this works depends on whether you donate:

1. through Gift Aid
2. straight from your wages or pension through a Payroll Giving scheme
3. land, property or shares
4. in your will

This also applies to sole traders and partnerships. There are different rules for limited companies.

so, very clearly, if your donation is not one of the 4 mechanisms listed it cannot be tax free as only those mechanisms ensure there is a record of who the donor actually is and therefore enough data to allow HMRC to confirm sufficient tax has been paid to allow the refund - whether to the taxpayer or the charity.

Your hypothetical £100 donation won't give you personal tax relief as it was not through the above mechanisms.