Gift Aid

The donor must have paid at least as much in Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in that tax year as you want to claim in Gift Aid, and make a Gift Aid declaration that gives you permission to claim it.

If the donor hasn’t made a declaration you may still be able to claim on cash donations of £20 or less, through the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.

There are special rules for:

• Funds from sponsored challenges, for example overseas treks or marathons
• Charity membership fees
• Church collections
• Selling goods on behalf of individuals, for example through a charity shop
• Charity events or to view charity property
• Charity auctions
• Volunteer expenses donated back to your charity or CASC
• Funds raised through charities involved in running schools

You can’t claim on donations:

• From limited companies
• Made through payroll giving
• That are a payment for goods or services or made because your charity or CASC bought goods and services
• That started as loans, but no longer need to be repaid
• Where the donor gets a ‘benefit’ over a certain limit of shares
• From charity cards or of vouchers, for example Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) vouchers
• Of membership fees to CASCs
• You got before you were a recognised charity or CASC

You can claim Gift Aid using eligible software (like a database) or a spreadsheet of your donations. For claims of over 1,000 donations you must use software.

To apply by post use form ChR1, which you can get from the charities helpline.

Your deadline to claim Gift Aid depends on how your charity is set up. You need to claim for a donation within four years of the end of the financial period you received it in. This is:

• The tax year (6 April to 5 April) if you’re a trust
• Your accounting period if your charity is a community amateur sports club (CASC), a Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) or a limited company

You may be able to claim 25 per cent on:

• Cash donations of £30 or less
• Contactless card donations of £30 or less collected on or after 6 April 2019

This is called the Gift Aid small donations scheme (GASDS). You don’t need a Gift Aid declaration to claim.

You can claim up to £2,000 in a tax year or £1,250 for earlier years.

You must claim on cash donations under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme within two years of the end of the tax year that the donations were collected in.

You need to keep records of these donations for a further two years.