Can I claim on my tax return for money given to charity?

[HappyHippyDad]

Evening all..

I am wading through my tax return for the first time ever (had an accountant last year but decided to save the £300!).

It's all a bit complicated with all the legal sounding jargon, but I have pretty much completed it. I just wanted to find out if I can make a claim against money given to charity? It's not a huge amount, but it is a regular monthly payment and every little bit helps :smile5:.

 

[amlu]

https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Haven't got a clue what thats all about Amlu :smile5: but thanks anyway.

 

[Richard Burns]

As far as I could make out when I looked into it donations to charity were not tax deductible except in a specific circumstance that did not apply to me at the time. Probably your easiest solution would be to ring the self assessment tax helpline, they used to have some pretty good support there though I have not used it for a while.0300 200 3310.

 

[ian.settle1]

Thought when making an donation to a charity any tax that was claimed was claimed by the charity

 

[happydundee]

The charity should be able to claim the tax relief if you completed a gift aid form. If you pay 40% tax you can also claim 20% tax back on donations.
I find a good accountant can save more money than I pay them, plus I can't be bothered with the forms.

 

[snowhead]

Even a Bad Accountant should be able to save you more than they charge.

 

[derbylad]

Evening all..

I am wading through my tax return for the first time ever (had an accountant last year but decided to save the £300!).

It's all a bit complicated with all the legal sounding jargon, but I have pretty much completed it. I just wanted to find out if I can make a claim against money given to charity? It's not a huge amount, but it is a regular monthly payment and every little bit helps :smile5:.

when you had an accountant,did you claim for the charity donation? A simple google search will get your answer,have you got google ?

 

[gnselectricals]

I would always recommend using an accountant, perhaps not mine as he's a bit rich @ £450 but I usually get around 2.5k back a year so I'm quite happy with that. £300 is quite reasonable to save all the grief I think

 

[HappyHippyDad]

My accountant did not mention anything about charities when he did my tax return last year. It is only because I have noticed it this year that I am questioning whether I can claim or not.

I basically added up all my expenditures and gave it to him in neat sections and he filled out the paperwork. The only extra bits he put down that I would not have been aware of was £156 for 'use of residence as office'. Hence why I didn't use him this year.

 

[Midwest]

My accountant rung me up and said '...you don't have to worry about money no more. And I said that's good! One less thing'

 

[Deleted member 26818]

There are rules for claiming for charitable donations.
Giving the odd pound to someone in the street, doesn't count.
However if the donation is regular and made by direct debit, then from what I understand, it is allowable.
Best bet is to phone the help line, remembering to make a note of the name of the person you speak to, along with the time and date of the call and the telephone number called.