All about Gift Aid
Increase your donation without spending a penny extra!
- Help more people with Multiple Sclerosis at no extra cost
- Boost your donations through tax-effective giving
- Every penny counts
Why Gift Aid your donations?
It's easy - just fill in a simple form.
Did you know that you could help us to support even more people with MS without spending a penny extra?
Have you made any donations to the MS Trust since April 2000? The government's Gift Aid scheme allows us to reclaim tax on donations since April 2000 and into the future. That means that for every £1 you give to the MS Trust, we can now reclaim 28p* from the tax man. Even though that may only seem like a small amount, you will be surprised how it all adds up.
The MS Trust received a total of £146,000 in donations in 2009. If everyone had gift aided their donations, we could have claimed an additional £36,000. We were only able to claim £10,584, but it is not too late! If you have made a donation to the MS Trust since 2006 and want to make sure we can get the additional benefit of gift aid on your donation, please complete the Gift Aid declaration form and return it to us.
There's no extra cost to you - all you have to do is fill in a simple Gift Aid Declaration. This means that you confirm that you are a UK tax payer and that you are happy for us to reclaim the tax. All donations qualify - large or small, regular or one-off, and whatever the method of payment.
Here are a few examples of how Gift Aid can increase your donations:
- a £5 donation = £6.56 with Gift Aid
- a £15 donation = £19.68 with Gift Aid
- a £25 donation = £32.80 with Gift Aid
And there can be advantages for you too...
- If you pay higher rate tax, you can claim tax back back on all gross Gift Aid donations made each tax year.
- If you are 65 or older, your gross Gift Aid donations are deducted from your taxable income, this may increase your age related allowances.
- You can include Gift Aid donations on your Tax Credit application; because the donations reduce your taxable income you may be awarded more tax credits.
To make a Gift Aid Declaration, just print out and complete the Gift Aid declaration form and return it to us at: MS Trust, Spirella Building, Bridge Road, Letchworth Garden City, Herts, SG6 4ET. And you only have to do this once, as your instruction to us will apply to any future donations.
Further information
If you have any questions about Gift Aid or would like to discuss the best way of collecting Gift Aid declarations for a fundraising event, please call our fundraising team on 01462 476707 or email fundraising@mstrust.org.uk
Find out more about Gift Aid on the HMRC website
*we are currently able to claim an additional 25p from every £1 donated by UK taxpayers. In addition to this, the Government will provide Transitional Relief of 3 pence on the pound. We will therefore actually receive 28p until the 2011 tax year