Gift Aid

Gift Aid is one of the easiest ways to make your donations go further. It means we can reclaim the basic rate of tax from HMRC. There is no extra cost to you and the process is simple – all you need to do is make a Gift Aid declaration.

A Gift Aid declaration is a statement by an individual taxpayer that they want a charity to claim from HMRC the tax paid on their donation. This is a great way to add 25 per cent to the value of your gift to RNIB without it costing you a penny more. For example, your £10 donation will be worth £12.50 and for every £50 gift, will be worth £62.50.

For every £1 you donate to RNIB in a financial year (from 6 April to 5 April the following year), you must have paid 25p in income or capital gains tax in the same financial year to qualify for Gift Aid.

If you have made a Gift Aid declaration, we ask that you let us know if you cease to pay enough income tax and/or capital gains tax to cover the amount we will claim from HMRC on the donations you make. Also, please let us know if you change your name or address.

You must be a UK taxpayer and pay enough in income tax and/or capital gains tax to cover the amount RNIB will reclaim in the tax year (from 6 April to 5 April of the following year). Inheritance tax, council tax and VAT do not qualify for Gift Aid.

You pay these taxes if:

• income tax is taken from your wages or salary before you receive your pay
• you pay tax after filling in a self-assessment form each year
• you have any taxable savings (in building society, for instance), or a pension plan or investment income
• you have paid any capital gains tax on the sale of a property or some shares, for example. Inheritance tax, council tax and VAT do not count as income or capital gains tax.

Although basic rate tax is currently 20 per cent, the donation for £1 is treated as the net after tax from £1.25 (£1.25 minus 20 per cent is approximately £1), we can therefore reclaim 25p.

Unfortunately, you are not able to make a Gift Aid declaration. If you want us to make a note of this on your records do let us know by calling 0303 123 9999 (Monday to Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 9am-1pm) or emailing [email protected]. You can also write to us at; Fundraising, RNIB, Grimaldi Building, 154A Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JE.

You may still pay tax on a private pension plan or a savings account. If you sell property or shares, you will also pay capital gains. If so, you can Gift Aid too.

RNIB can only directly claim back at the basic rate, but please complete and return the declaration anyway. As a higher rate taxpayer, if you declare your donations on your tax return, you can claim a rebate based on the difference between the higher rate and the basic rate when you fill in your self-assessment form.

If you pay a lower rate (10 per cent or 20 per cent), RNIB can still claim back 25p for each £1 you donate, provided you pay enough tax to cover the claim in the tax year you make the donation.

If you normally make donations via CAF, tax has already been reclaimed but please do fill in the form to cover any other donations you may make in the future or have made in the past.

HMRC don’t treat raffle ticket purchases as donations, so Gift Aid doesn’t apply to them. But you can submit a declaration to cover any other donations you may make in the future or have made in the past.

Yes, in most cases – please see sponsorship forms for more details. If you are being sponsored or sponsoring someone else, for example, someone taking part in an RNIB skydive or running the London Marathon, please Gift Aid eligible contributions. Remember each sponsor needs to include their home address and postcode for us to be able to reclaim the tax.

After you sign up for Gift Aid it normally covers past, present and future donations. We can back-claim four years and we’ll continue to do so until you ask us not to, so please let us know if anything changes.

Only RNIB and HMRC. We won’t share it with anyone else.

Please let us know by contacting us in one of the following ways:

• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 0303 123 9999 (Monday to Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 9am-1pm)
• Write to us at: Fundraising, RNIB, Grimaldi Building, 154A Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JE