Gift Aid

For your donations to qualify you must be a UK taxpayer and pay Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at a rate at least equal to the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all of your donations in that tax year. Otherwise, it will be your responsibility to pay the difference.

For example, if you donate £100 a year across various charities you'll need to pay at least £25 or more in Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for that tax year to qualify for Gift Aid.

Even if you're not currently employed you may still be eligible for Gift Aid if you pay tax on any of the following:

• personal or occupational pensions
• bank or building society savings accounts
• stocks and shares
• rental income
• UK and overseas investment dividends.

For full guidance take a look at the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website.

And if I pay tax at the higher rate?

If you pay tax at a rate of 40% or greater you can claim the difference between the higher and basic rate on the total value of your donation, which you can pass on to Parkinson's UK.

To receive the additional tax relief you need to:

• Note all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return.
• Contact HMRC and ask for your tax code to be adjusted.

For more guidance on claiming back higher rate tax please visit the HMRC website.

We can claim on personal individual gifts and sponsorship donations.

We can't claim Gift Aid back on:

• donations made on behalf of someone else
• donations raised by a group of people. Each donor has to sign/tick a Gift Aid declaration for their contribution on a sponsorship or declaration form
• tickets/registration fees, for example entry charges to a sporting event or a concert
• items people buy from us, for example from our shop
• money raised from competitions, like sweepstakes or raffles
• donations given on behalf of companies (although companies can claim tax relief on donations to charities)
• donations given through the Charities Aid Foundation or other charity agencies that are already tax-efficient
• gifts in kind, where the charity receives goods or services instead of a cash donation.

No, you don't. By filling in our Parkinson's UK declaration form you're allowing us to claim Gift Aid from the government on all your current, future and past donations (up to a maximum of 4 years before the date of the declaration).

We'll continue to claim Gift Aid on your donations until you tell us otherwise, as long as you're eligible.

Absolutely not. By completing a Parkinson's UK Gift Aid declaration form there's no obligation to commit to future donations.

Please contact our Supporter Care Team if you change your name, change your address or no longer qualify for Gift Aid due to a change in your tax circumstances.

You can call 0800 138 6593 or email [email protected].

If you're raising funds through sponsorship, your sponsors can boost their donations through Gift Aid.

They must be UK taxpayers and meet all of the conditions mentioned above. All they need to do is tick the box on your sponsorship form, or confirm they're eligible when they sponsor you online.

They won't need to fill in a Gift Aid declaration form, but it's important that your sponsorship form:

• is an official Parkinson's UK sponsorship form printed with the latest Gift Aid declaration wording. Home-designed sponsor forms aren't valid
• includes your name and address
• includes each sponsor's full name and home address, with the Gift Aid permission column either ticked or signed by the sponsor 
• is in the sponsor's own handwriting
• shows the amount donated by each individual sponsor.

If you're raising money using an online fundraising page (for example from Much Loved or JustGiving) your sponsors will be automatically asked if they want to add Gift Aid to their donation.

This type of fundraising has restrictions on who can Gift Aid their donations.

If you're taking part in an overseas or UK challenge where part of your fundraising covers the costs of your event (such as flights and accommodation), it's important to note that your family members can't tick for Gift Aid when sponsoring you.

Family members are defined as:

• wife, husband or civil partner
• brother, sister, parents and grandparents
• wife, husband or civil partner of a relative.

However, these restrictions don't apply:

• if you pay the full costs of the challenge yourself (for example, flights and accommodation)
• if you cover the cost of the event itself (for instance, if you pay yourself to take part in a skydive).