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HMRC have issued further information on the new model of gift aid declarations, following queries by charities and donors in reaction to the department's recently updated guidance.
Donors need to be made aware they must pay enough tax to cover all of charitable donations, not just those made to a particular charity at the particular time of a gift.
The mandatory information provided should ensure the donor is making an informed declaration and understands the consequences if he or she has not paid enough tax to cover all donations made under gift aid, not just those to a single charity or a community amateur sports club.
By incorporating the required information set out in the guidance on the declaration form, charities can be certain HMRC will not challenge the associated gift aid claim on the grounds the donor gave a valid declaration.
The gift aid declaration does not need to incorporate all the information set out in the Revenue’s model declaration, but this is the simplest way for charities to show they have explained the tax consequences to the donor and that the donor’s gift aid declaration is valid.
Charities do not need to change their existing gift aid forms immediately: the taxman will continue to accept claims using forms based on the wording in the old model declaration until 31 December.
Where possible, charities should seek to incorporate additional information under the new guidance as soon as possible.
Where a charity has already received a gift aid declaration based on the old wording, it does not need to ask the donor to supply a declaration with the new wording to support that donation for gift aid purposes.
Charities may chose to replace their existing enduring declarations with new ones based on the new guidance if they so wish but there is no requirement that they do so.
