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Gift Aid

On this page, you can find out what Gift Aid is and how to sign up. And how to tell us if there's any years where you didn't pay enough tax to qualify for Gift Aid.

What is Gift Aid?

Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows us to reclaim the basic rate tax you pay as a UK taxpayer. As soon as you give your permission by completing our Gift Aid declaration form, we can claim the tax back on your donation.

You qualify for Gift Aid if you:

  • are a UK taxpayer
  • pay enough tax

Paying enough tax means you pay the same or more Income Tax or Capital Gains tax as the amount of Gift Aid you claim on all your donations in that tax year. If you earn under the amount, it's your responsibility to pay the difference.

Gift Aid questions and answers

Am I eligible for Gift Aid?

To qualify for Gift Aid, you must pay Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the amount of tax we (and any other charities you support) will claim from your gifts in that tax year.



We claim 25p from the government for every £1 that you donate. So if you donate £100 in total to all charities in a particular tax year, you'll need to have paid £25 of income tax or capital gains tax over that period.

To find out how much gift aid is worth on you donation you can use this formula: £x (your donation amount)/80*20 = £x (amount of Gift Aid).



Other taxes like VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. If we claim more Gift Aid than tax that you have paid, you might get a letter from HMRC to pay the difference.



We advise you don't sign up to the Gift Aid scheme if you're not sure you can Gift Aid your donations. Your financial adviser, Citizen's Advice or HMRC can give you advice on this.

How do I cancel my Gift Aid declaration?

If you want to cancel your gift aid declaration, all you need to do is contact our Supporter Care team and they will do it for you.

Are all donations eligible for Gift Aid?

No, not all donations are eligible for gift aid. We can only claim it on voluntary donations. If you're fundraising for us and your supporters receive goods or a service in return for a donation we can't claim Gift Aid. 

Please don't apply Gift Aid if the money you're paying in is from:

  • offline sponsorship. We'll claim the Gift Aid once you send in your paper sponsorship forms
  • any collections where you haven't got the donors' details on our donation or sponsorship forms
  • raffles, lotteries and sweepstakes
  • sale of goods, for example, ticket sales, auctions and cake sales
  • corporate donations.

If you're paying in your fundraising through our website or websites like JustGiving or Virgin Money Giving, only apply Gift Aid to donations you've made yourself.

Overseas treks and adrenaline events

There are rules about who can Gift Aid their donations when part of your donations go to cover the cost of the event.

For example: If you're taking part in an overseas event where part of your fundraising pays for costs (like flights or accommodation) your family members cannot apply Gift Aid to their donations if they sponsor you. This also applies when donations pay for experiences, like the cost of taking part in a Skydive.

Family members include:

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

This rule does not apply if

  • you pay the full costs of the overseas trek yourself (like flights and accommodation)
  • you cover the cost of the adrenaline event yourself (paying for skydive)
  • it's a domestic event like a run, cycling and challenge events.

If you have any questions about this, contact our Supporter Care Team.

Sponsorship forms

To help us maximise your sponsorship please follow these guidelines. For us to be able to claim Gift Aid from your sponsorship, we need your donors to fill out all the information below:

  • first name and surname
  • home address
  • postcode
  • donation amount
  • tick the Gift Aid column
  • donation date

We cannot claim Gift Aid if the sponsorship form is filled out in the same handwriting. So please make sure your donors fill out the form themselves.

We do not claim Gift Aid from joint donations or donations made by a company. Once your fundraising is complete send your form back to us and we will claim the Gift Aid.

How can I claim Gift Aid on donations from a fundraising event I'm organising?

Contact our Supporter Care Team and they can supply you with donation forms. Ask your donors to fill out these forms and send them to us with the full amount you have raised.

Donation forms work in the same way as sponsorship forms. To make sure we can maximise your fundraising, read the section above on sponsorship forms. 

Please note: Gift Aid applies only to personal donations.

Gift aid can only be claimed from voluntary donations, this means if supporters receive goods or a service in return for a donation the donation is then ineligible for the Gift Aid.

For example this rule applies to fundraising activities such as raffles, cake sales and ticket sales.

If you have any questions, please contact our Supporter Care team.

Gift Aid declaration

Explore these 3 ways you can sign up for Gift Aid.

1. Sign up for Gift Aid online

Don’t worry if you’ve forgotten to add Gift Aid to your last donations - you can sign up today.

Sign up online

2. Send us your Gift Aid form

You can also download a paper Gift Aid form (PDF, 103.19 KB) and post or email it to us.

Post address:

Freepost Plus

RTSU-BRUL-UEES

MS Society

Bumpers Way

Bumpers Farm

Chippenham

SN14 6NG

If you fill out your form on your computer, you can email it to our Supporter Care Team on [email protected]

3. Select Gift Aid when you donate

Whenever you donate online, you'll be asked if you want to apply Gift Aid. If you tick yes we'll apply it to all your donations to us. So if you give £10 today, with Gift Aid it will be boosted to £12.50.

Update your Gift Aid declaration

If you want to

  • tell us about about any tax years where you didn't pay enough tax
  • cancel your declaration
  • or ask any other questions

Call or email to our Supporter Care Team on 0300 500 8084 or [email protected]