When working with charities to set up their POS systems and Gift Aid, we are asked a lot of questions. Some of our customers are very experienced, some have never made a Gift Aid claim. But, no matter how seasoned the charity is, there are still often questions about certain elements of the gift aid claim process. So, we’ve put together some of our most frequently asked questions.

What exactly IS Gift Aid?

In a nutshell, gift aid significantly increases the value of donations to your charity with no cost to the donor. As a scheme run by the government, it allows your charity to claim back the basic rate tax (or capital gains tax) that has been paid on the donation. The donor must be a UK tax payer and fill out a gift aid declaration.

How does Gift Aid calculation work?

Charities can only claim back the basic rate of tax (20%) earned on a donation. The charity will reclaim 20% of the amount earned before tax, which works out as 25% of the amount they receive.

So, for every £1 donation – a charity will receive £1.25p.

Do I need to declare cash gifts to HMRC?

An individual does not need to declare cash gifts if they are under £250. However, the donor does need to make a Gift Aid declaration in order for the charity to be able to claim. Many do this by asking the donor to fill out a paper Gift Aid form. With Wil-U though, Gift Aid declarations are simple! The donor pops their details into the Gift Aid tablet and their details are stored securely in the cloud.

What is the HMRC Gift Aid guidance?

In a nutshell, the person donating to your charity must have paid the same amount or more in Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax within that tax year and filled out a Gift Aid declaration. You can read more about claiming Gift Aid as a charity on the Gov.UK website.

What is GASDS?

GASDS is the Gift Aid Small Donation Scheme. This allows charities and CASCs (Community Amateur Sports Clubs) to claim a top up payment of 25% on smaller cash donations of under £30 without the need for a Gift Aid declaration. This allows charities to claim Gift Aid on things like bucket collections and collection tins etc. There are some rules with regards to the total over a tax year and your GASDS claim cannot be more than 10 times your total Gift Aid claim. You can read in more detail here.

What is Charities Online (HMRC)?

Charities Online is a HMRC online service for charities to claim repayments for Gift Aid. It can also be used to claim top-up payments under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS). You can read more or register for Charities Online here.

How can Wil-U make Gift Aid easier?

Wil-Us Digital Gift Aid Solution is entirely paperless, making the signup process quick and simple for donors and charities alike! Alongside this, if a charity pairs the digital Gift Aid sign-up tablet with the Gift Aid EPOS, your claims can be submitted with the touch of a button!

Wil-U’s Gift Aid Processing starts building claims for you in the correct format to submit to HMRC and even automatically contacts your donors, so you don’t have to individually email every single one. Find out how we can make Gift Aid easy for you by clicking the button below!