Gift Aid FAQs
We can use the Gift Aid scheme to boost your donations by 25% if you are a UK taxpayer. To help our donors make an informed choice, we have put together a list of questions and answers below.
What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows charities to reclaim some of the tax that you have already paid through income tax or capital gains tax on your donations.
For every £1 that you earn, you have already paid 25p to HMRC. As a donor, you can allow us (and your other chosen charities) to claim this money back from HMRC.
Gift Aid is a valuable source of income for the Marine Conservation Society.
Will this cost me anything?
No. Gift aid is taken from the tax that you have already paid to HMRC. As long as you have paid enough tax to cover your gift aid contributions, you won’t have to pay a penny.
How do I sign up?
There are a few ways you can join our Gift Aiders!
Web, Verbal and Written. You do not need to donate at the same time (though it would be appreciated!). We will log your Gift Aid Declaration (GAD) on your record, ready to be used for past and future donations.
When you donate via our website, if your donation is eligible, you will be prompted to tick the GAD. You should receive an email confirmation of your Gift Aid acceptance, but if you don’t you can always get in touch with us to confirm.
You can email us. We will get back in touch to clarify your details and ask you to formally accept our declaration.
You can call us on 01989 566017 to speak with our membership and donations team. Verbal declarations are perfectly valid for Gift Aid. We are, however, legally required to send you a confirmation letter by post or email. The letter will be a confirmation of our GAD, to inform you of what you have signed up for. You will also be given a 30-day window to change your mind.
Written declarations are the more traditional sort, and you can still sign up this way. Most of our written declarations are from our appeal mailers, signed when making a donation. We could also send you a standalone GAD for you to return to us.
How do I know if I have paid enough tax?
In one financial year you must have paid at least 25p in income or capital gains tax for every £1 you donate to charity. Every income taxpayer has a tax-exempt threshold before they start paying tax. So please ensure you are paying enough tax to Gift Aid your donations.
If you make total donations of £100 to all your charities in one tax year 6 April – 5 April, you will need to have paid at least £25 in tax in that tax year. For income tax you can refer to your wage slip to see how much tax you are paying.
If you need help you can either contact HMRC (make sure you have your National Insurance number or Self-Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference), or you can speak to an accountant.
What if I don’t pay enough tax?
Unfortunately, HMRC can only pay Gift Aid to charities if you have paid enough income or capital gains tax to cover the Gift Aid on ALL your donations to your favourite charities, therefore the scheme is only opened to UK taxpayers who have paid enough tax.
You can think of it as a redistribution of your tax payments.
Who will be able to access my Gift Aid information?
Only HMRC and our charity team can access your data. We never share your data for marketing purposes with any other organisation or business. We do not share your information with anyone else, not even other family members without your permission.
Why do you need my personal details?
HMRC need to know who is signing up to the scheme and can only do this by knowing your full name and your usual home address which they already hold on their records. Our record must match their records.
Why is Gift Aid important?
Many charities rely on the extra income Gift Aid provides. Every donation received which is gift aided adds 25p to every pound donated.
£100,000 of gift aided donations can generate an additional £25,000 for the charity, without costing our donors anything extra. This extra income is crucial in our fight for clean seas and healthy oceans.
Is it worthwhile as I only pay the minimal subscription?
Every penny counts. We can reclaim 25p for every pound. For example, a year’s membership of £60 would equate to £15 Gift Aid per year. We have thousands of members, so if everyone ticked the Gift Aid box we could claim a substantial amount to help us do our vital work.
What is a Gift Aid Declaration, and why do I need to complete one?
Gift aid is always the choice of the donor. After all, it is your money and your tax.
The Gift Aid Declaration (GAD) is the legal script that shows a donor has allowed a charity to claim their paid tax from HMRC. Without a completed GAD, we cannot do this.
Our standard GAD is:
I confirm that I am a UK tax payer and I wish the Marine Conservation Society to claim Gift Aid on all donations from the last four tax years and all future donations. I understand that if I pay less income tax and/or capital gains tax in the appropriate tax year than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations, it is my responsibility to pay any difference.
Please contact us if you would like to sign a gift aid declaration that covers a specific time frame.
Do I need to make a declaration every time I donate?
No! Unless you choose to do this. Most charities use an enduring declaration, meaning if you paid enough tax all your donations including any donations you may have made in the past four tax years and in the future will, if eligible, have Gift Aid claimed on them
Am I eligible for gift aid?
To be eligible for gift aid, you simply need to be a UK taxpayer (either income tax or capital gains tax). Council tax and VAT do not count for gift aid.
Please check that you have paid enough tax to HMRC to cover what we will claim.
Example, if you donate £400 to MCS this year, you must have paid at least £100 of tax to HMRC to cover this donation. Remember to think about other charities that you may support, as the tax you pay must cover all your gift aid contributions.
What if I give through Gift Aid to other charities?
That’s great! You can Gift Aid all your donations to different charities if the charities are registered with HMRC for Gift Aid – you just have to complete the Gift Aid Declaration for each charity and Community Amateur Sports Club you support, and make sure you pay enough tax to cover them all.
What kind of donations are eligible for gift aid?
- Personal memberships
- Personal donations
- Sponsorship donations – We encourage people to sign up to an online giving platform such as Just Giving, who are able to claim gift aid on our behalf
What kind of donations are not eligible for gift aid?
We cannot claim gift aid on:
- Payroll giving donations (as these come from your salary before you have paid tax on them)
- Company donations (though there is a company gift aid scheme available for organisations that may choose to donate)
- Donations from non-UK taxpayers
- Donations made on behalf of someone else, e.g. A collection from work colleagues or a fundraising event
- Trust and foundations donations/gifts
- Gift memberships
- Fundraising events – As the money collected is not from your own personal funds. If you’re arranging a sponsorship event we encourage you to sign up to an online giving site, such as Just Giving, who can claim Gift Aid on our behalf.
- Payment of services – We cannot claim gift aid on sales transactions.
What if I make a donation through an online giving site such as Just Giving?
As long as you're a UK tax payer, you can tick the box for Gift Aid. Just Giving and other sites will then reclaim the Gift Aid on our behalf and forward it to us.
My taxpayer status has changed, what now?
Please contact us as soon as possible via the details below. It is important to contact us, as HMRC may bill you for any tax that we claim that you have not paid to them. It is your responsibility as the donor and taxpayer to inform us, and any other charities that you have signed a GAD for.
Once we receive your notification, we will stop claiming gift aid for any donations made in the future.
- Phone 01989 566017
- Email – [email protected]
- Letter – Please post to:
Marine Conservation Society
Overross House, Ross Park
Ross-On-Wye
HR9 7US
How can MCS reclaim 25% when the basic rate of tax is currently 20%?
This is because the basic rate of tax is calculated on the gross amount of the donation. This means we can reclaim 20% of the amount you earned before tax was deducted, which works out to be 25% of the amount that we receive.
So, for every £1.25 you earn in gross pay (over your personal tax free allowance):
HMRC gets £0.25 in tax that we can reclaim as Gift Aid
You get £1.00 paid into your bank.
What if I pay tax at the higher or additional rate?
Charities can only claim Gift Aid at the basic rate, but that is still a worthwhile 25% boost to us on your donation, so please complete and return the declaration.
As a higher or additional rate tax payer, when you donate the charity will claim against your donation at the basic rate of tax (currently 20%). However, the good news is you can claim the difference between the rate you pay and basic rate on your donation and claim a tax refund.
To do this, you must include the details of your donations on your Self-Assessment Tax return or you can speak to HMRC about changing you tax code.
Example: You are a higher rate (currently 40%) UK tax payer and donate £100 to the Marine Conservation Society.
- You donate £100.
- The Marine Conservation Society will claim gift aid at 25% = £25
- You claim the remainder of the tax as a tax refund at 25% = £25
If you are unsure about your personal circumstances, you can speak to HMRC or your accountant.
I am not a taxpayer but my partner is, and our donations are made jointly. Are our gifts still eligible?
If you have joint finances but only one person pays tax, it does get a little more complicated, but gift aid is still possible!
As tax is a personal affair between a taxpayer and HMRC, we need a Gift Aid Declaration from the UK tax payer. As long as the donation comes from a bank account that holds the tax payers name, we can claim Gift Aid on the joint donation.
Please feel free to contact us so we can check your record is set up correctly, to ensure that we can claim Gift Aid.
What if I am a pensioner?
You may still be paying tax on a private pension plan or pay capital gains tax if you sell either a property or shares. You are still eligible if you have paid enough tax during the year to cover your donations (i.e., 25% of the value of your gifts). Please check carefully, as often pensioners pay less tax than a person in work, and we don’t want you to get caught out.
Please remember to cancel your GAD as soon as your tax no longer covers your Gift Aid.
I am moving overseas, is Gift Aid possible?
Enjoy the move! If you retain your UK tax status you can still make Gift Aid donations to the Marine Conservation Society. We will still need notification of your usual home address even if overseas, and if there are any changes to the scheme which could affect your Gift Aid, we are obliged to contact you and let you know.
What if I live in Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man?
Whilst all three are part of the British Isles, each has its unique tax system which is NOT part of the UK tax system, therefore it is very unlikely you pay UK tax. As such, you are not eligible to join the UK Gift Aid Scheme. If in doubt, please check with your accountant.
I’m a Scottish taxpayer, what’s different?
The process is still the same. You send us a Gift Aid Declaration, you make a donation, and we claim the Gift Aid from the tax you have paid.
The only difference, is that Scotland have different tax rates (19%, 20%, 21%, 42% and 47% at time of writing).
You can still do Gift Aid at all those rates! You still only need to make sure that the tax you pay can cover the gift aid.
Do I need to notify you of my change of address or change of name?
Yes please. We know you will have so much to do when moving house or changing your name, so if you add us to your “notifications” list you can let us know your new details as soon as possible.
What if I have opted out of receiving correspondence from you?
If you have asked us not to contact you, we will continue to honour this. However, Gift Aid is a little different as the scheme is owned by the Government, and therefore we have the responsibility to make sure the donor is always eligible to be in the Scheme. So, every so often we may need to contact you to make sure we have your correct contact details, and you are still eligible to Gift Aid.
Please don’t worry we will only do this when necessary.
