Charity donations

Racky_Roo

Morning all.
I'm a higher rate tax payer and through my pay, I have been donating £50 a month to a charity of my choice for years.
My company have now stopped this - said they no longer partner with Charities Aid Foundation and said to donate directly.

However, my £50 i was donating, seems to only be about £25 extra into my pay so the charity will now only get my £25 plus 20% gift aid, making them £20 short on what they used to receive. I can't afford to top up the shortfall as I already donate to various colleagues fundraising efforts most months.

This is a long shot, but does anyone know if there is a way to donate the full £50 directly and claim it back through my tax returns to reduce my overall tax bill? Really feel for the charity as they heavily rely on donations so looking to see how I can get round this.

TheGreenFrog

If you donate £40 a month to the charity then the charity will get £10 gift aid, making £50.  In your tax return (or PAYE coding) you include the details of your donation and, as you are a 40% tax payer, you will get a further £10 off your tax bill, making your net contribution £30.

Racky_Roo

TheGreenFrog said:

If you donate £40 a month to the charity then the charity will get £10 gift aid, making £50.  In your tax return (or PAYE coding) you include the details of your donation and, as you are a 40% tax payer, you will get a further £10 off your tax bill, making your net contribution £30.

I don't usually do a tax return as i'm paid by my company, so is it right i'd need to start doing one?

TheGreenFrog

Racky_Roo said:

TheGreenFrog said:

If you donate £40 a month to the charity then the charity will get £10 gift aid, making £50.  In your tax return (or PAYE coding) you include the details of your donation and, as you are a 40% tax payer, you will get a further £10 off your tax bill, making your net contribution £30.

I don't usually do a tax return as i'm paid by my company, so is it right i'd need to start doing one?

I think you can get your charity donations factored into your PAYE code if you don't do SA.

https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid

saajan_12

Racky_Roo said:

I'm a higher rate tax payer and through my pay, I have been donating £50 a month to a charity of my choice for years. My company have now stopped this - said they no longer partner with Charities Aid Foundation and said to donate directly.

However, my £50 i was donating, seems to only be about £25 extra into my pay 

The income tax on £50 would have been £20 (@40%), so you should be getting £30 extra into your pay? Was this also being taken out of national insurance? 

Racky_Roo said:

However, my £50 i was donating, seems to only be about £25 extra into my pay so the charity will now only get my £25 plus 20% gift aid, making them £20 short on what they used to receive. I can't afford to top up the shortfall as I already donate to various colleagues fundraising efforts most months.

This is a long shot, but does anyone know if there is a way to donate the full £50 directly and claim it back through my tax returns to reduce my overall tax bill? Really feel for the charity as they heavily rely on donations so looking to see how I can get round this.

Well for a £50 donation including 20% gift aid ie £40 excluding gift aid. So you'd donate £40 out of pocket, and then declare that on your taxes to get another £10 back. The net is £30 cost to you, which is the same result as when you had contributions via your employer as far as income tax is concerned. 

As above, I wonder if the remaining £5 difference is rounding and/or national insurance. 

Racky_Roo

yes I think it was NI which was where the £5 went
Thanks very much for the help, great that I have a way of continuing to give the charity the full £50

TheGreenFrog

Racky_Roo said:

I can't afford to top up the shortfall as I already donate to various colleagues fundraising efforts most months.

Ensure that you gift aid these as well, and get them noted on your PAYE code.