Thousands potentially being lost in charity donations

July 13, 2011 - PRLog -- Not doing so means the charities they are trying to help may not be receiving as much as they could and are losing out on vital funds.

Donating via the gift aid scheme means money raised at events such as St Peter’s Hospice’s midnight walk can be increased by 20p for every pound donated and is done simply by the person given the money declaring they are a UK tax payer.

Tony Moorby, director of tax at the Bristol office of PKF said: "If you elect to donate via the Gift Aid scheme then the Government tops up your donation by 20 per cent and in today’s times of austerity charities need every penny that we can give to them, so it makes much more sense to maximise the donation you are making.

“Gift Aid donations are regarded as having basic rate tax deducted by the donor. It means charities take your donation - which is money you've already paid tax on - and reclaim the basic rate tax from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on its 'gross' equivalent.

“With basic rate tax at 20 per cent it means that it will only cost you £10 to give the charity £12.50. If you claim relief for the gift on your tax return, it will bring the effective cost to you down to £7.5 if you are a 40% taxpayer or £6.25 if you are a 50% taxpayer – so you may decide you could give more.”

Tony’s advice follows confusion by some as to what the gift aid scheme exactly means and is keen to dispel any misconceptions.

He added: “I've seen people refusing to sign the Gift Aid declaration form because they were not sure what it meant and whether it committed them to anything further or gave away any personal details.

"All you are signing, or authorising if you are donating by card over the phone, is to ensure that charity can claim the extra 20p on top of every pound you give.

"The system is there to be used. It's a tragedy if we don't make the most of it and ensure that we donate every possible penny to those who need it most."