Charity giving

cromercrab

Hi, Hope someone can guide me. I have a small income each year of around £1600 which I donate the whole to charity, I do this assuming that I do not have to pay tax on this sum. Apart from that a private pension of which I draw my tax free allowed figure of £12,500.I get confirmation from the registered charity that I have donated.

I am trying to complete my self assessment and it keeps taxing me for the £1600 because I need to complete my SA to get the monies taxed at source on my pension.

How do I fill out the assessment form to sort this

or

If I have to pay tax because I have done this wrong, how do I sort the next time.

As always appreciate help from here.

Best

Savvy_Sue

Definitely typed a reply to this the other night, but it's not here, so let's try again. 

I think you are misunderstanding. 

My understanding: your income above £12,500 is taxable, and this is almost regardless of where it comes from and what you do with the money. (Some benefits are not taxable, but pensions generally are. State retirement pension is never taxed at source, and nor are the benefits which are taxable.)

If you donate to charity, then you can Gift Aid your donations, and the charity can then reclaim the tax you have paid - you have to sign a declaration with each charity you're supporting to the effect that you pay tax of at least the amount they are reclaiming.

So, if you haven't paid any tax because you think by giving it away you don't have to do so, the Gift Aid declaration makes no sense. 

I don't know what the source of the £1600 is, but if is taxable but has not been taxed, then it is correct that the SA form is including it and wanting tax paid on it. 

It's possible you'd find better help on the Cutting Tax board, and my expertise - such as it is - comes from the charity side, but you may also need to speak to them if you've completed a Gift Aid form without actually having paid the tax. 

cromercrab

Many thanks Sue, I shall digest and see what can be done. Best.

Richard1212

cromercrab said:

Many thanks Sue, I shall digest and see what can be done. Best.

It's great to hear that some people are still donating to charities in spite of the UK economic squeeze. This Board is not used as much as it should be and I infer that means a lot of members who rabbit on about their latest 0.1 % savings account transfer savings or how much they earn or ask for advice about what to do with large cash amounts, do not consider charity donations. I donate 10% of my income to my various "permanent" charities as well as to ad hoc causes such as areas suffering from natural disasters , etc. It is the mark of a civilised society to do as cromercrab is doing.