What you need to know
Providing you are a UK tax payer, Imran Khan Cancer Appeal can reclaim the basic rate of tax on your donation. This is called Gift Aid. With Gift Aid, your donation can increase by 25p for every £1 you give, at no extra cost to you. Please note that annually you must pay an amount of UK Income tax and/or Capital Gains Tax that is at least equal to the tax that we will reclaim on your donations for that tax year.
What you need to do
You need to make a Gift Aid declaration for the charity to claim. You usually do this by filling in a form and ticking the Gift Aid box. Contact the charity if you haven’t got one. You must give a separate declaration to each charity you want to donate to through Gift Aid.
You can include all donations from the last 4 years. Tell the charity about any tax years where you didn’t pay enough tax.
Paying enough tax to qualify for Gift Aid
Your donations will qualify as long as they’re not more than 4 times what you have paid in tax in that tax year (6 April to 5 April). The tax could have been paid on income or capital gains. You must tell the charities you support if you stop paying enough tax.
Higher rate taxpayers
If you pay tax at a rate of 40% or above, you can claim the difference between the higher and basic rate on your donation. Do this:
- through your Self Assessment tax return
- by asking HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to amend your tax code
For example: You donate £100 to charity – they claim Gift Aid to make your donation £125. You pay 40% tax so you can personally claim back £25.00 (£125 x 20%). With Payroll Giving, you don’t pay the difference between the higher and basic rate of tax on your donation.