Gift Aid Information and FAQs

If you are looking for more information about Gift Aid specifically for sponsored events, please ensure you read the final point on this page.

What is Gift Aid?

Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows charities to reclaim the tax that you have already paid on your donations through UK income tax or capital gains tax. It means that your donations could be worth an extra 25% to our charity.

Why do I need to make a declaration?

The declaration confirms that your donations are eligible for gift aid. In order to be eligible you must be a UK tax payer and you must have paid enough income tax or capital gains tax within the tax year to cover the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all donations that you make to charities in the same tax year. The declaration confirms that you have understood this, that you will pay enough tax for the donation to be Gift Aided, and that you authorise Headway Devon to claim Gift Aid from HMRC on your donation.

How do I know if I am a UK taxpayer?

You are a UK tax payer if:

• Tax is taken from your wages or pension before you receive them
• You have to fill in a self-assessment form
• You have any taxable savings (in a Building Society, for instance), or a pension plan, or investment income you have recently paid any capital gains tax, or expect to pay it in the near future. This could be on the sale of a property or some shares, for example.

What if I pay tax at the higher rate?

We can only claim back tax at the basic rate, but that is still worth 25% extra on your donations to us, so please provide us with a declaration anyway.

If you pay higher rate tax, you can claim the difference between the higher rate of tax and the basic rate of tax on the total (gross) value of your donation to Headway Devon. You can make this claim on your Self Assessment tax return if you were sent one. We would suggest speaking to your accountant if you would like to do this.

How can charities 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, i.e. we can reclaim 20% of the amount you earned before tax was deducted from you – and this works out to be 25% of the amount that we receive.

What if I am a pensioner?

Being a pensioner does not necessarily mean that you are not eligible for Gift Aid. You may still be paying tax on a private pension plan or a savings account, or pay Capital Gains Tax if you sell 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).

I am not a taxpayer but my partner is and the donations are made by us jointly. Are our gifts still eligible?

Joint donations are not eligible for Gift Aid. Each donation must be attributed to one individual. Therefore if you are not a UK tax payer your donations would not be eligible, but if your partner made a donation and they had paid sufficient income or capital gains tax then their donation could be gift aided.

What if I was a taxpayer last year, but am not this year?

Your donations last year would have been eligible for Gift Aid, but your donations this year will not be. If your tax status changes and you had previously completed a declaration asking Headway Devon to claim Gift Aid, please notify us and we will ensure that no Gift Aid is claimed on ineligible donations.

What if I have a deed of covenant?

Deeds of Covenant are no longer valid as Gift Aid declarations.

Can Gift Aid be claimed on Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) donations?

No, we cannot reclaim tax on donations made through the Charities Aid Foundation as the tax has already been reclaimed for you – however please complete a declaration form if you make any other non-CAF donations.

What if I have agreed to Gift Aid to another charity?

You can support as many UK charities as you like through Gift Aid. You just need to return a declaration to each charity that you support and be paying enough tax during the year to cover your total annual donations.

What’s the catch?

There’s no catch. It really is that easy. Giving us a declaration will enable us to make your donation worth more without costing you anything.

Do I have to make a declaration with every gift?

For donations to Headway Devon, yes. Because we understand that circumstances change and we don’t want to place you or our charity at risk by claiming Gift Aid on ineligible donations, Headway Devon’s Gift Aid declaration forms only apply to single donations meaning that one should be completed for every gift that you wish us to claim Gift Aid on.

Can you claim Gift Aid on all types of donation?

All individual donations are eligible for Gift Aid. Donations and collections from a group (e.g. Office, department, local church or choir) are not eligible for Gift Aid, unless donations are made in individual envelopes with one of our collection forms listing the fore and surname of each donor, their addresses and full post code and a tick box declaration that Headway Devon can claim Gift Aid against their donation.

Can I withdraw a declaration on a particular gift?

If, for any reason, you decide that your gift should not be included in Gift Aid – perhaps you realise that you will not pay enough tax to cover the tax reclaimed by us – then simply call us on 01392 211822.

Gift Aid on sponsored events

If you are taking part in a sponsored event and your sponsors are UK tax payers, then we may be able to claim Gift Aid on their donations. However, if you do plan to collect gift aided donations, please take a minute to ensure you understand the rules surrounding this.

If you receive benefits form our charity (e.g. in the form of an item, service or experience) for taking part in your event, this may mean we cannot claim Gift Aid on donations from your family members or companies under their control. An example of the kinds of benefits you might receive would be a running vest, transport to or from an event, or a voucher from one of our corporate supporters. In order for donations from your family to qualify for Gift Aid, any benefit that you receive must be of less value than 25% of your fundraising total or £25, whichever is lower. An example would be a sponsored walk raising £30 where Headway Devon gave you a t-shirt costing £10. This would exceed 25% and would therefore mean that sponsorship donations from you family could not be Gift Aided. If you are not sure how much your event will raise or if you are not sure about the value of the benefits that you will receive, then please ask family supporters not to tick the Gift Aid box, or to donate offline using one of our sponsorship forms where the Gift Aid box could be ticked after your event and you knew you had raised sufficient funds to satisfy this rule. Please note, we are unable to accept homemade sponsorship forms.

There are also rules surrounding joint donations – please ensure that your supporters are aware that donations can only be Gift Aided if they are made by one individual. Therefore any donations received from or with messages from “Mum and Dad” or “Mr and Mrs Smith” would not be eligible for Gift Aid.

Participation costs for sponsored events

There is often a cost involved in participating in an event such as a marathon or skydive. Headway Devon are not able to pay the costs of these events and we therefore ask that participants cover these costs. If you are unable to pay the cost yourself then these can be covered though donations raised offline, but please remember that if doing this then these donations cannot be Gift Aided as the money raised is being used as payment to the event organiser, not a donation to Headway Devon. Funds to cover costs cannot be raised through online platforms such as Virgin Money Giving or JustGiving, because these funds are paid directly to our charity and may have Gift Aid claimed.