Charity donation and self assessment

moneysaverz83

I've participated in a charity auction 2017/18. I won the item and It came to 550, which is 700 plus with auction fees.



Would I be able to use that on my return or is it somehow exempt?.



And do I put hammer price or total price? I think only hammer price went to charity, though auction house may have donated their fee, I need to check.



:money:

londoninvestor

Relevant article here:
https://www.taxation.co.uk/articles/2010/10/27/21194/just-giving

And HMRC page here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gift-aid-what-donations-charities-and-cascs-can-claim-on#charity-auctions

Broadly it depends on whether the article was credibly worth what was paid for it.

If so, the payment is not a donation, as you received something of equivalent value in return for it.

If however the article was of minimal real value, and you intentionally overpaid for the sake of giving money to the charity, then it can be treated as a donation.

What "minimal" means depends on what you paid, and what the item was really worth. e.g. if you paid £100 and the item was worth less than 25% of that, it can be treated as a donation. In the links above, the more detailed rules for that are quoted.

Alternatively, if the value wasn't minimal, but the charity told you what it was, and you paid more than that (e.g. £1000 for an item worth £900 item) you can "buy the benefit" and claim Gift Aid on the difference (£100 in this case).

...and remember, you can only claim Gift Aid if the charity has too. In fact, asking them whether they claimed GA, and how much, would be a good guideline to what you can do here.

moneysaverz83

Thanks.



This sounds too much of a complicated, grey areas to deal with any hassles and repercussions.



The artist submitted 4 items I believe and mine grossed the highest. Does that mean the picture was better, or worth more. Its not something I'd like to debate with hmrc