Gift Aid | FAQs

Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows UK charities to retrieve the basic rate tax people pay in the UK as taxpayers.

It means that for every £1 you donate, we can claim 25p of tax, which doesn’t cost you anything. All we need from you in order to claim this is a Gift Aid declaration.

There are several ways you can do this for monetary donations:

• Tick the Gift Aid box when making an online donation
• Complete our Gift Aid declaration form online
• Call 01539 816300 to make a declaration over the telephone

To ensure that we don’t attempt to claim anything we shouldn’t, please ensure you notify us of any changes in your circumstances, especially with regards to your tax status, or name and/or address.

Provided a voluntary donation is made by an individual who pays sufficient UK tax, Gift Aid can be applied to almost all monetary donations (see exceptions below).

Once you complete a Gift Aid declaration, any donations you might make by cash, cheque, postal order, Direct Debit, standing order, debit or credit card, will be covered.

The exception?  Gift Aid is not applicable to any donations processed through tax efficient payment schemes – these include payroll gifts or Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) donations, as tax relief has already been claimed.

In order to be eligible for Gift Aid you need to:

• Be a UK taxpayer
• Make a Gift Aid declaration
• Have paid (or expect to pay) sufficient income or capital gains tax, in the actual year your gift(s) are banked, to cover all the Gift Aid contributions you made to charity in that year.

If you complete an enduring Gift Aid declaration, ensure you have paid enough tax to cover any donations you made in the previous four years (or clearly state how many years you’re happy for us to claim for – bearing in mind, we can only claim for the previous 4 years or less).

Don’t forget to notify us if your tax status changes in the future – you could be liable for any shortfall if you don’t let us know of changes in your circumstances.

Making sure you’ve paid enough tax to use Gift Aid is straightforward but important – to reiterate – you can apply Gift Aid to your charitable giving, provided the amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax you have paid in any tax year (from 6 April to 5 April) is sufficient to cover the amount of tax we will reclaim on your donations. It is your responsibility to pay the difference if you have not paid enough tax. 

The GOV.UK webpage on Gift Aid is a useful resource – if you’re in any doubt whatsoever about whether you’re eligible for Gift Aid, please visit this page for further advice, including what it means if you pay higher rate tax.

No, you don’t – you only need to do this once. We will assume your declaration as your continuing authorisation to claim Gift Aid tax relief on all donations you make. Please note, it will cover the current year, the previous four years, and any donations you might make to Cumbria Wildlife Trust in the future, unless you instruct us otherwise, prior to any claim being made.

If you haven’t paid enough tax to cover previous donations, or you stop paying tax in the future, it’s important you tell us as soon as possible to prevent us from claiming, which might see us receiving tax relief we’re not entitled to, which would end up having implications for you.

No, we can only claim the tax relief on donations going back four years.

Please let us know as soon as possible. You can telephone 01539 816300 or email [email protected] – please include your full name, address (including postcode) to ensure we can match you to the correct record on our system.

If your state pension is your only income, it is unlikely you will qualify for Gift Aid as you need to be earning above the personal allowance threshold.

Please check with your tax office before making a declaration.

No – that’s it!

For your own peace of mind, it might be worth keeping a record of any charitable donations you make. This will ensure you know you’re paying enough tax to cover any Gift Aid contributions you make.  Bear in mind, you can choose to not Gift Aid some donations if you think this will take you over the threshold. It is important you inform us of this at the time of making the donation though.

It’s the same principle as donating online – please simply make your donation as normal – you can then either complete our Gift Aid declaration form online, or request a paper form, by telephoning 01539 816300 or emailing [email protected]

You can also make an oral declaration by telephoning the number above.

The money that we claim back from HMRC may be recorded as unrestricted funds and used to support our general work, even though your original donation may have been made towards a specific project or appeal. This might apply if the target for an appeal has already been reached, or if there is a greater need elsewhere. Don’t forget, gift aid can take several months to reach us in some circumstances, by which time a specific appeal may have finished and other work needs to take priority.