Gift Aid explained

Gift AidMake your donations go further

The Government operates a scheme called Gift Aid that allows charities to claim the basic rate tax on every pound donated.

So if you donated £100 to Cancer Research UK, it means that you’ll actually be giving us at least £125!

Giving under Gift Aid means that so much more money can be raised with relatively little effort.

Gift Aid – the facts

  • For individuals, the Gift Aid rules require the completion of a Gift Aid Declaration Form (PDF). This provides us with the minimum information required for us to be able to claim Gift Aid on a donation.
  • Gift Aid can be claimed on individual and sponsorship donations that are made to Cancer Research UK.
  • Gift Aid applies only to ‘gifts’. That means we can’t use Gift Aid to boost fundraising totals on activities where people have been charged an entry fee or have entered a competition. This also extends to activities where the donor can’t be traced (such as giving to collections).
  • To ensure that the Gift Aid claim is valid, meaning we can claim the money back, it’s vitally important that all the information asked for on the Gift Aid Declaration Form is provided.

Gift Aid Declaration Forms

Any charity has to be able to provide, when requested, a valid declaration through which Gift Aid has been claimed, so it’s incredibly important that any forms sent back to us are accurate and complete. All Gift Aid Declaration Forms should include the following (which our standard form does) :

  • The name of our charity.
  • The full name and home address of the person making the declaration, including their postcode. Declarations cannot be made jointly.
  • A clear indication that the person wants to make a declaration (normally a tick box is used), and a statement as to which donations are to be covered by the declaration.
  • A statement that the person making the declaration pays an amount of income and/or capital gains tax for each tax year (6 April one year to 5 April the next) that is at least equivalent to the tax that Cancer Research UK will claim from HM Revenue & Customs in that tax year.
  • A reminder that supporters should inform us of any changes in their tax circumstances or name/home address.

 Gift Aid on Tax Returns

  • From 6 April 2004 any person filling out a tax return is able to nominate that any tax refund due to them is paid to a charity instead. This payment gets treated as a Gift Aid payment, meaning we can claim the basic rate tax on every pound given.
  • Cancer Research UK is registered for this scheme and our unique HM Revenue & Customs reference is UAA95LG.