Hi everyone,
Just thought I'd add my little bit to the hard work that is going into
starting up the UK Chapter :)
I'd like to say now that I'd bee keen to help with this side of the
operation, as I'm currently working for a charity, and will be setting
up the Gift Aid system in the new year for them.
Outline
^^^^^^^
This post details about claiming Gift Aid for UK citizens: what it is,
how to claim it etc.
I'd like to say now that **I would be keen to help with this side of the
operation**, as I'm currently working for a charity, and will be setting
up the Gift Aid system in the new year for them.
Anyway... here's an executive outline of what the Inland Revenue have to
say...
For those who may not be aware, the government tops up donations so long
as you are earning more than the gifted amount in Income Tax and/or
Capital Gains Tax in the given tax year.
This currently works out at 28p for every pound. The end result is that
if that a member of the public donates £50.00, the nice tax people give
us another £14 :)
The outcome (est.)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The 2005 Q3 fundraiser, got $200,000 of which around 10% [estimate] was
in UK Pounds. This equates to £11,400. If we could claim gift aid on 75%
of donations, we would have an extra £2,400. Multiplied over four
quarters, it could mean an extra £10,000 a year. And with growing
donations, would come growing Gift Aid... :)
What we need to do
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1) Registering...
Most of this post comes from the Inland Revenue (or Her Majesty's
Revenue and Customs as they are now known).
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/claim_tax_back.htm
Once we have sent off the form and registered, we need to appoint an
official to make the claims. Ideally Treasurer, but if they are too
busy, then someone else who doesn't mind the paperwork.
2) Knowing who is eligible
When we are up and running, we will probably want to intercept people
before they pay via their Paypal link in order to ask them if we can
claim Gift Aid on their donation. The Inland Revenue has a sample form.
http://tinyurl.com/7kgg2
It is quite simple, and is merely a record of name/address and the amount.
3) Claiming
Involves a couple of forms; a top sheet:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/r68_2000.pdf
...and a sheet detailing each individual payment (hopefully several
copies of this per application!)...
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/r68_f.pdf
Then they send us more money :D (read on for how)
FAQ:
^^^^
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/faq_tax_back.htm
In short, they like it if you claim for £100 at a time, and they send
you a cheque within 10 days :D [Imagine that: a cheque *from* the Inland
Revenue]
This is all summarised from the Inland Revenue website, for extra detail
visit the Charity part of their website.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/
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