Gift
Aid
Your questions answered
1. What is Gift Aid?
2. Can I give through Gift Aid?
3. I'm
retired / on a low income. Is that a problem?
4. If I'm
Gift Aiding for another charity can I do it for Guide Dogs too?
5.
What else does ticking the Gift Aid box commit me to?
6.
How long does my declaration last for?
7. Why do I need
to act now?
8. What do I do if I need more information
on Gift Aid?
9. Where can I get a Gift Aid declaration
form?
1. What is Gift Aid?
It's a
scheme introduced by the government which allows charities to reclaim the tax
that a supporter has already paid on money he or she donates. This means that,
for every £1 you give us, the taxman gives us an extra 28p - so our income
from your donations increases by almost a third.
2.
Can I give through Gift Aid?
If you're a UK taxpayer, and have paid enough
tax in the financial year to cover the amount of tax we'll reclaim, then yes.
But only if you've returned a Gift Aid declaration form like the one overleaf.
3.
I'm retired / on a low income. Is that a problem?
Not necessarily. Your
overall tax payments could still be enough to cover your donations because any
kind of tax is taken into account - whether it's income tax from a part-time job
or capital gains from savings or investments. If you really haven't paid enough
tax, or you don't pay any at all, then we're afraid you can't Gift Aid. However,
you can still continue to give in your usual way.
4.
If I'm Gift Aiding for another charity can I do it for Guide Dogs too?
Yes. But if you've given your consent to another charity it won't cover us as
well. You must complete a separate declaration for each charity you want to help.
5. What else does ticking the Gift Aid box commit
me to?
Nothing. It just ensures that, if you donate to us, we can claim
money back from HMRC - H.M. Revenue and Customs.
6.
How long does my declaration last for?
Until you tell us to stop. At the
moment, and as long as you remain eligible, your declaration lets us reclaim present,
future and past donations - all the way back to when the scheme first began in
2000.
7. Why do I need to act now?
Gift Aid
rules mean that very soon we’ll no longer be able to reclaim all your Gift
Aid from previous years donations. A rolling 6 year limit means that unclaimed
tax from donations over 6 years old will be lost forever. Come next year, if you
still haven't consented to Gift Aid, then unclaimed tax from another year will
be lost forever. And so on. Tick the consent box now and all this money will be
saved. If all our donors, who don't currently give through Gift Aid did this,
all the unclaimed tax from the past 6 years would be instantly saved. That's a
huge amount.
8. What do I do if I need more information
on Gift Aid?
If you would like to find out more please email
us and we will do our very best to help.
9. Where
can I get a Gift Aid declaration form?
Below we have posted Gift Aid declaration
forms in MS Word and PDF formats for you to download. Please complete one of these
forms and return it to the address specified at the bottom of the form. If you
require assistance or an alternate format please email
us.
Gift Aid Declaration Form (MS Word document, 66kb)
Gift Aid Declaration Form (Adobe PDF document, 168kb)