As you probably know, making charity donations with 'GIFT AID' enables the charity to claim additional money from HMRC equivalent to your tax saving.

E.g. tax relief is 20%;

• 20% on £100 = £20; therefore, if you donate £80, the charity can claim the £20 from HMRC making the total donation £100.
• If you divide 20/80 = 25%, thus some people refer to it as a 25% uplift.

What many do not realise is, in order for you to donate with 'gift aid', you have to pay tax that is greater than the sum of all your 'gift aid' donations.

• E.g. you donated 5x £100 to 5 charities annually = £500 x20/80 = gift aid of £100.
• You must tax of > £100 for each tax year. (If you pay national insurance but not tax, this does not count).

Hence charities require your name and address when making 'gift aid' donations.

If you do not pay enough tax to cover your 'gift aid' donations - HMRC WILL CHARGE YOU FOR THE TAX.

HMRC has a powerful Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) computer cross references many areas:

• Tax returns and payroll income vs. your mortgage applications.
• Income vs. tax credit claims.
• Income vs. social media (if you cannot afford first class or multiple holiday each year, HMRC will can and does detect it).
• 'Gift aid' declarations vs. tax paid in each tax year.
• Recently, AIR B'n'B income is disclosed to HMRC directly; Rental income vs. Air Bnb Data.

TIPS:

• If you are a non-taxpayer, do not tick the box for 'gift aid'.
• If you are a 40% tax payer, we can claim additional tax relief on your tax return.
• You can revoke your 'gift aid' donation at anytime by contacting the charity concerned.
• When totalling your gifts', remember some attractions operate 'gift aid' on their admission fees.
• Charity buckets etc. in the street, cannot claim 'gift aid' as they don't have your name and address.
• The most efficient way for any donation is to give to the charity directly.