A Gift Aid Declaration is an agreement between you and HMRC that allows a charity to reclaim tax on any donation you have made. It states that you are happy for them to do this, as long as you have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in each tax year (6th April one year to 5th April the next) that is at least equal to the amount of tax all charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) will reclaim on your gifts for that tax year. Naturally, this can be a great asset to charities and when implemented correctly can be pivotal in sustaining the organisation financially.

In order to claim gift aid, a gift aid declaration first has to be completed. The declaration should include information about yourself such as your name, address and details about the donations made, including:

• The date/s when each donation/payment was made
• The total amount of each donation/payment
• Whether the donation was made in cash or cheque
• The charity’s name and registered charity

When you sign a declaration, HMRC will advise the charity to treat all donations from you as Gift Aid donations for four years from the date of your signature. Therefore, it is important that you keep an up to date record of all declarations.

If your circumstances change at any time (for example if you no longer pay tax), please let the charity know immediately so they can update their records accordingly. If this happens and you haven’t told them, they may have to repay some or all of the tax reclaimed on any donations since then.

Gift Aid is a great way for charities to increase your donations, and it is important that Gift Aid Declarations are completed correctly. If you have any questions about what information should be included in your declaration, it’s recommended that you either contact the HMRC, or the charity directly.

How We Can Help

At GoodtoGive, we provide gift aid management, a service designed to assist charities with the collection and claiming of gift aid. Without prior experience within the field, it can be challenging for a charitable organisation to correctly get gift aid declaration forms filled out with all of the required information present; this is where we come in to ensure that they are fully compliant with regulation, that they provide gift aid envelopes that ask for all of the required information, and that these forms are properly logged for future reference. We provide our clients with gift aid forms designed specifically to meet these requirements.

Contact GoodtoGive for Gift Aid Support

Through GoodtoGive, many charitable organisations have gained the tools required to streamline their finances and make the most of donations. To find out more about our charity accounting services and gift aid management software, get in touch with a member of our team on 020 7731 2041.