Gift Aid
Your donation
If you donate to us during Red Nose Day, 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 Red Nose Day 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 at least 25% extra on top of your donation from the HM Revenue & Customs. This means that for every £1 you donate, Comic Relief can claim an extra 25p (subject to current tax rates) direct from the Government.
In addition following the 2008 Budget, the Government will pay a transitional relief of 3 pence on every pound on every Gift Aid donation made from 6th April 2008 until 5th April 2011. This means that we can claim in total an extra 28% on top of your donation if you Gift Aid it.
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 £2.50 from the HM Revenue & Customs. You must, therefore, be sure that you have paid (or will pay) more than £2.50 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!
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 (25%). You must therefore have paid an amount of tax in this tax year (6th April 2008 - 5th April 2009) 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 £2.50 from the Inland Revenue. You would therefore have needed to pay more than £2.50 in tax over the year. If you have donated £20, you'd need to have paid more than £5.00 in tax, £100, more than £25 etc. Even if you only pay tax at the 10% starting rate, that tax can cover the tax we reclaim on the donation.
How much will it be worth?
You can calculate the amount of tax we would roughly claim back by using the following equation:
0.25 x £Your donation
(E.G.1) 0.25 x £10.00 = £2.50
(E.G.2) 0.25 x £20.00 = £5.00
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 20% 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:
Red Nose Day 2009
Ernst & Young
PO Box 51543
London
SE1 2UG