HMRC has published a response to media reports about the treatment of Gift Aid claimed on donations accompanied by a message of support from a donor’s family:

“Recent reports in the national media have suggested that HMRC has sought to restrict Gift Aid on donations which are accompanied by a message of support from a donor’s family. This is absolutely not the case.

“HMRC’s position has always been that Gift Aid can be claimed when an individual donor, who pays tax in the UK, makes a donation, even if additional names are added in a supporting message. HMRC’s advice on this issue appears to have been misinterpreted so we are going to ensure our guidance is as clear as possible.

“Where gifts are made by groups of people, such as work collections or large groups of friends, Gift Aid is not due and should not be claimed.

“It is a Government priority to maximise Gift Aid on eligible donations, and £1.2bn of tax repayments were made to charities in the tax year 2014 to 2015 through Gift Aid. HMRC will continue working closely with charity collection agents to help them improve their processes so that Gift Aid is not removed from eligible donations.”

These media reports followed a blog post by JustGiving, which reported that it had been asked to retrospectively remove Gift Aid claims on donations which referenced more than one person in the name or message boxes on JustGiving pages. However, JustGiving has indicated that this situation has now been resolved following negotiations with HMRC and that it expects to be able to claim Gift Aid on donations with associated messages that contain no more than four names of linked family members. Retrospective claims fulfilling this condition are expected to be paid although there may be some delays.

Charities are reminded that donations from parties other than the declared taxpayer, ticketed activities, a single donation from multiple unrelated individuals and other specific activities remain ineligible for Gift Aid, just as they have always been. It is hoped that intermediaries will also make this clearer on their websites.

CTG would welcome feedback from members on their experiences to date in relation to this issue and whether there are any ongoing unresolved issues.