HMRC has published a press release urging eligible taxpayers to tick the Gift Aid box and boost the contributions they make to Sport Relief.

The full press release is reproduced below.

 

Make your Sport Relief donation go further with Gift Aid

The government urges eligible taxpayers to tick the Gift Aid box and boost the contributions they make to Sport Relief this evening (13 March 2020).

‘Tick the box’ and see generous charity donations go 25% further, the government urges eligible taxpayers.

This comes on the day of the all-star Sport Relief telethon, which raised £38 million for charities in the UK and abroad in 2018. Sport Relief is a fundraising campaign run by Comic Relief that raises money to tackle mental health stigma, domestic abuse, homelessness and poverty, both in the UK and around the world.

Gift Aid allows UK charities and community amateur sports clubs to claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated.

Statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show that in 2018 to 2019, Gift Aid from individuals contributed more than £1.3 billion to the charities sector.

For more information on Gift Aid, and to find out whether you are eligible to ‘tick the box’ on your charitable donation, visit the Gift Aid pages on GOV.UK.

If you are a charitable organisation, find out more about how you claim Gift Aid on GOV.UK.

It doesn’t matter how much you donate, as long as you are eligible: the vast majority of Gift Aid claimed by charities all over the UK is from smaller donations.

To add Gift Aid to a donation, you must have paid Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax that year worth at least the value of the Gift Aid being added and give the charity permission to claim it.

Alex Reid, Chief Executive of Comic Relief, said:

Gift Aid is a simple but hugely important way that supporters can increase charitable donations at no extra cost. As we race towards a fantastic Sport Relief on Friday 13 March, I hope as many people as possible enjoy the show and use Gift Aid if possible.

Gift Aid costs no extra to add on to your donation – you just tick the box.

However, recent research showed that charities are missing out on almost £600 million in Gift Aid, money which could be vital to their work.

Nicola Rawnson, Chairman of Salisbury Rugby Football Club, a registered community amateur sports club with current membership of 1,000, said:

For the last 4 years we have been working on ‘Project All Change’ to build new changing rooms at the club.

Our hard work has been very successful: we have generated around £280,000 from our own efforts, with much of this coming from individual donations.

Gift Aid contributed almost £25,000: we couldn’t have been successful without it.

HMRC works closely with charities to ensure they get the most out of Gift Aid, including making sure their donors understand the rules and that they fully benefit from the support it gives.