What is Gift Aid?
Gift aid is a process by which donations can be made to charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASCs), who are then able to claim income tax back from HMRC. Giving a donation under gift aid means the charity can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give, at no cost to the donor.
What is GASDS?
The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) is a separate scheme available to charities who already claim gift aid. GASDS allows charities to claim a top-up credit from HMRC, worth up to £2,000 on cash donations of up to £8,000 per annum.
What’s the problem?
Many charities have had to cancel fundraising events as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Many have also tried to reduce the amount of cash that they handle, to help prevent the spread of the virus, encouraging donors to give online instead. All this means that, for many charities, their income has reduced at the very time that people need them more.
What is happening?
A number of leading charities are campaigning for the UK government to introduce temporary changes to the current gift aid rules to:
- Increase the amount of gift aid recoverable, from 25p for every £1 donated to 33p for every £1. They estimate that this could release an additional £450m to the charity sector.
- Remove the ‘matching rule’ currently in place for the GASDS, so that all charities can access the GASDS top-up, irrespective of whether they claim gift aid.
- Increase the maximum amount of donations qualifying for GASDS from £8,000 per annum to £10,000 per annum
- Increase the rate of the GASDS credit in line with that for gift aid, so it would also be worth 33p per £1 donated rather than the current 25p.
Can I get involved?
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is leading the campaign for the Gift Aid Emergency Relief Package and you can find out more and join the campaign on their website:
www.cafonline.org/about-us/caf-campaigns/giving-for-the-uk/gift-aid-emergency-relief
