Gift Aid is an income tax relief designed to benefit charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs). If you’re a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid increases the value of your charity donations by 25% because the charity can reclaim the basic rate of tax on your gift – at no extra cost to you.

Find out more about the charity tax relief here: gov.uk/donating-to-charity

Find out if you qualify to add Gift Aid to your donations here: swiftaid.co.uk/check

To work out if you’ve paid enough tax to cover your donations, divide the donation value by four.

For example, if you give £100 in a particular tax year, you will need to have paid £25 tax over that period. (£100/4 = £25). (Note that this calculation is based on the basic rate tax of 20 per cent).

If you don’t think you’ve paid enough tax this year, you may be able to carry back your donation to the previous tax year.

You are a UK income taxpayer if any of the following are true:

• Tax is taken from your wages or pension before you receive them.
• You fill in a self-assessment tax return for HMRC.
• You have any taxable savings (e.g. in a building society), a pension plan, or investment income.

You may also have paid capital gains tax on the sale of property or shares, for example. Inheritance Tax does not count as income or capital gains tax.

If you pay a higher-rate tax, you can claim the difference between the higher-rate tax (40% or 50%) and the basic-rate tax (20%) on your donation’s total ‘gross’ value.

If you pay Income Tax at a higher or additional rate and want to claim the additional tax relief due. In that case, you must include all Gift Aid donations from your Swiftaid end of year statement on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.

Learn more about Higher Rate Relief here