Our DENY TAX, DONATE protest is still moving forward. I have sorted out some of the administration process this week
Some of the charities to which we will be giving money effectively have “payment portals” on their website, which makes it easy – their bank details are there, you fill in the Gift Aid declaration online, and that’s it.
Others aren’t really expecting donations to come from random people, or have not otherwise allocated the infrastructure to run donations through their websites. So I’ve been in touch with them, and asked them to send bank details and Gift Aid forms. I have several printed out at home – we’ll need to fill them in and return them.
If you’ve never filled in a Gift Aid form before, they are very simple – you fill in your name and address, and tick a box that you have paid enough tax for the charity to claim back. You date it (so it can apply to any donations after that date, unless you cancel it). That’s it – the charity is then able to increase the size of the donation you made by 25% by getting in touch with the government to reclaim the basic rate income tax you paid. If you were a higher rate tax payer, the fact that you made a charitable donation will also reduce your own tax liability when you come to do a tax return.
