Donating land, property or shares

Governance and Compliance
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Introduction

As well as donating gifts of money, individuals can also help your charity by gifting shares. This can provide you with a significant source of income and can also be very a tax-effective way for the donor to give. Individuals don’t have to pay tax on land, property or shares you donate to charity. This includes selling them for less than their market value

It is important to remember that when talking with a potential donor, you must not give financial advice and should encourage the individual to seek any advice they need from a qualified financial advisor.  

Individuals get tax relief on both:

For more information on donations of property, land, or shares go to HMRC

For more information on tax for charities take a look at the ‘Tax Made Simple’ guides from Sayer Vincent

 

ARE WE ABLE TO ACCEPT ANY GIFTS OF SHARES?

All shares that are transferable can be donated to your charity, but only publicly quoted shares qualify for tax relief for the donor. Publicly quoted shares include shares listed on the London Stock Exchange or Alternative Investment Market shares (AIM). For a full list of qualifying stock exchanges, visit the HMRC website

WHAT SHOULD WE CONSIDER BEFORE WE DECIDE TO ACCEPT DONATED SHARES?

There are many factors to consider before making your decision. These include:

We would recommend that your organisation has an agreed ethical policy in place that covers all these issues. If you cannot accept the shares for any of these reasons you may wish to look at the alternative methods to transfer shares listed below. 

To transfer the shares in paper form (certificates), the process is: 

1) Charity/donor obtains a stock transfer form from the Registrar of Shares

2) The form is received and filled out and signed by the transferring party

3) Return the completed form to the Registrar of Shares with original share certificate.

4) The charity will receive a new share certificate in their name.  

Stocks may however be held electronically, in either a corporate nominee account (administered by the registrar) or a stockbrokers nominee account (administered by a stockbroker). In those instances, you will have to contact the nominee in order to check their precise requirements for the transferal of the shares. 

You must advise the donor to keep a dated copy of the transfer form and to establish the value of the shares when they were transferred, so they can claim the tax relief. You can refer them to the relevant HMRC guidance notes for further information about the records they need to keep.

 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO TRANSFER THE SHARES DIRECTLY INTO THE NAME OF YOUR CHARITY?

As well as transferring shares as outlined, your charity can also:

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