Gift Aid declaration requirement

Before your charity can claim tax on a donation made by an individual you need to obtain a Gift Aid declaration from that donor. You must be able to link that declaration to the making of a donation.

A Gift Aid declaration provides written or verbal confirmation from an individual donor that:

• they have paid or will pay at least as much UK tax (for the tax year in which they donate) as the amount your charity will reclaim on their donation(s)
• they want you to claim tax back for the donations specified

There are special rules for joint declarations by spouses, members of a partnership and there is a modified procedure for declarations connected to donations for sponsored events.

For more information please see the detailed guidance about particular types of declaration.

Written or verbal declarations

You can accept Gift Aid declarations given in writing (including all electronic media) or given verbally, but you must keep adequate records of all declarations received.

If you are unable to adequately audio-record a verbal declaration at the time it is made then you must send a letter to the donor confirming all of the information in their verbal declaration. You need to keep a record of that letter being sent to the donor.

For more information please see the detailed guidance about Gift Aid record keeping requirements.

Joint or partnership declarations, and declarations relating to sponsored events

There are special rules for joint declarations by spouses and members of partnerships and there is a modified procedure for declarations relating to donations for sponsored events. For more information see the detailed guidance about particular types of declarations.

Design and content of Gift Aid declarations

There is no set design for a Gift Aid declaration. However, by law any Gift Aid declaration you obtain (whether written or verbal) must contain the following information:

• The donor’s full name and home address (at a minimum the house number and post code).
• The name of your charity.
• A statement indicating which gifts are covered by the declaration.
• A statement that Gift Aid is to apply and the donor’s written or verbal. confirmation of this (on a written form, a tick box is sufficient for this)
• A note, or statement to the donor, about the need to have paid sufficient UK tax to cover any repayment claimed by your charity on the donation(s) specified in the declaration.

For more information please see the detailed guidance notes about what a Gift Aid declaration must contain .

There is no requirement for a Gift Aid declaration to be signed.

Gift Aid – model declaration

HMRC Charities doesn’t provide an official Gift Aid declaration form as we realise that charities may wish to add additional information such as data protection disclaimers or bank mandate details. However, we do offer a model Gift Aid declaration form that you download and use or adapt to suit your needs.

The period covered by a declaration

A declaration must indicate which donations are covered and a donor may want to specify a particular donation. However, a Gift Aid declaration can be worded so that all future and/or past donations are covered by the same declaration.

Your charity can, however, only backdate Gift Aid repayments claims within set time limits. For more information see the guidance about claiming Gift Aid repayments.

Cancellation of declarations

A donor can cancel his or her Gift Aid declaration at any time – you will also need to keep a record of this with the date cancellation applies from. Cancellation of a declaration will not effect donations already made but needs to be taken into account for all future declarations. For more information see the detailed guidance about invalid or cancelled declarations.