RE1841 - Gift Aid relief: appropriate declarations

For gifts to qualify as Gift Aid donations the donor must give an appropriate declaration to the charity.

Appropriate declarations can be given in writing (including all forms of electronic communication) or orally (by telephone, face to face etc).

Appropriate declarations m u s t always include the following information:

• the name of the charity, or information from which the charity can be identified
• the full name (initials and surname) and home address of the donor
• a description of the donations to which the declaration relates
• a declaration that the donations specified are to be treated as Gift Aid donations.

In addition the donor must be made aware at the time of the declaration of the need to have paid sufficient tax (income tax and/or capital gains tax, at any rate) to cover the basic rate tax reclaimed by the charity.

• all the details provided by the donor in the oral declaration
• a note explaining the requirement that the donor must pay sufficient tax (income and/or capital gains tax at any rate) to at least equal the basic rate tax reclaimed by the charity
• a note explaining the donor's entitlement to cancel their oral declaration retrospectively within 30 days
• the date on which the donor gave the declaration
• the date on which the written record was sent to the donor

Declarations can be made to apply to individual donations; to a series of donations; can cover donations made during a specified period; or to all past and/or all future donations. They can even be backdated to apply to all donations made by the donor for six years prior to the year during which the declaration is made. Retrospective declarations cannot apply to donations made more than 6 years before the date of the declaration.

Any detailed queries concerning declarations should be referred to HMRC (Charities).