Giftaid
Giftaid
Your donation
If you donate to us during Sport Relief, you will be asked to declare whether you would like us to claim Gift Aid. This will be either by ticking the appropriate box on the Sport Relief giro slip when paying in your money at a Bank or through Ernst & Young, ticking the Gift Aid box on the donation page here online, asking your sponsors to tick the Gift Aid box on your sponsorship form or by saying 'yes' to the Gift Aid question whilst donating via the telephone. If you donate by telephone and speak to one of our operators we will write to you or email you to confirm this declaration. We are legally obliged to do so in support of our claim.
What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid allows us to claim up to an extra 28% on top of your donation from the HM Revenue & Customs. This means that for every £1 you donate, Comic Relief can claim an extra 28p (subject to current tax rates) direct from the Government.
Does your donation qualify for Gift Aid?
By ticking the Gift Aid box, you are declaring that you are a UK taxpayer (for the current year beginning 6th April) and you have paid (or are going to pay) the Government more tax throughout that year than we are claiming back. If you have donated £10, for example, and have indicated that you would like us to claim the tax back, we can claim £2.80 from the HM Revenue & Customs. You must, therefore, be sure that you have paid (or will pay) more than £2.80 in Income or Capital Gains tax for that tax year. This is because the Government cannot give the money you've already paid back to us if you haven't paid any!
For more information on how Gift Aid works, contact your local tax office or visit the HM Revenue & Customs website.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How does my donation qualify for Gift Aid?
You must:
- Pay at least as much tax as we will reclaim on your donation in the tax year in which you made it. The tax year runs from April 6th in one year to 5th April in the next.
- Have made a declaration to us that you want your donation to be Gift Aided and provided us with your name and full address.
Have I paid sufficient tax?
When you give money to us under the Gift Aid scheme,
we will reclaim back the basic rate tax on that money (28%).
You must therefore have paid an amount of tax in this
tax year (6th April 2006 - 5th April 2007)
at least equal to the tax we will reclaim. That
tax can be income tax or capital gains tax at
any rate. If, for example, you have donated £10,
we can claim an extra £2.80 from the Inland
Revenue. You would therefore have needed to pay
more than £2.80 in tax over the year. If
you have donated £20, you'd need to
have paid more than £5.60 in tax, £100,
more than £28 etc. Even if you only pay
tax at the 10% starting rate, that tax can cover
the tax we reclaim on the donation. Please note that from 6th April 2008 the tax rate changes and we will only be able to claim back 25%, i.e. £2.50 from a £10 donation.
How much will it be worth?
You can calculate the amount of tax we would roughly
claim back by using the following equation:
0.28 x £Your donation
(E.G.1) 0.28 x £10.00 = £2.80
( E.G.2) 0.28 x £20.00 = £5.60
What if I am a higher rate taxpayer?
The charity reclaims the tax on your donation
only at the basic rate, even if you are a higher
rate taxpayer. If you are a higher rate taxpayer,
you can claim the difference between the higher
rate of tax of 40% and the basic rate of tax of
22% (20% from 6th April 2008) on your Self Assessment return.
Can I count tax paid on my dividend income?
Yes. Tax credits on dividend income can be used
to cover tax reclaimed by the charity.
What about tax deducted from my savings?
If tax is deducted from bank or building society
interest you receive, you can use that to cover
the tax on the donation, provided you have not
reclaimed it. If you have reclaimed that tax,
then you must not use it to cover the tax on your
gift.
Why do I need to give a declaration?
The declaration is our authority to reclaim tax
from the Inland Revenue on your donation. By giving
the declaration you are confirming that you understand
this.
Can I withdraw a declaration?
If, for any reason, you decide that your donation
should not be Gift Aided, you have 30 days from
the date of the written record to tell us to withdraw
it.
Can I use Gift Aid to pay the proceeds of fundraising events?
If you have simply collected money from other
people and they have not made a declaration to
the charity that they are taxpayers, the payment
is not Gift Aid-able. However, if you have been
sponsored for an event, and each sponsor has signed
a Gift Aid declaration (the tick box on the sponsor
form) and given us their name and full address, then
we can reclaim the tax on the amounts covered
by their declarations.
Just send in your sponsorship form with your web payment reference or bank receipt to:
Sport Relief 2008
Ernst & Young
PO Box 51543
London
SE1 2UG