Gift Aid donations are regarded as having basic rate tax deducted by the donor. Charities or CASCs take your donation – which is money you’ve already paid tax on – and reclaim the basic rate tax from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on its ‘gross’ equivalent – the amount before basic rate tax was deducted.

Basic rate tax is 20 per cent, so this means that if you give £10 using Gift Aid, it’s worth £12.50 to the charity.

A Gift Aid declaration must include:

• your full name
• your home address
• the name of the charity
• details of your donation, and it should say that it’s a Gift Aid donation

Higher rate taxpayers

If you pay tax at the higher or additional rate, you can claim the difference between the rate you pay and basic rate on your donation. Do this either:

• through your Self Assessment tax return
• by…