Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)

GASDS allows eligible charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC's) to claim Gift Aid style 'top-up' payments on small cash donations without requiring the donor to provide a Gift Aid declaration.

The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme came into effect from 6 April 2013.

The aim of the scheme is that it provides 'top-up' payments on those small cash donations where it is difficult to collect a Gift Aid declaration.  The scheme applies to cash donations of £20 or less, received after 6 April 2013.

Charities and CASC's need to meet certain conditions so they can qualify for the scheme.  If they do qualify for the scheme, they could claim a 'top-up' payment of up to £5,000 of small cash donations in a tax year.  (This equates to a 'top-up' payment of up to £1,250 per tax year.)  However, this claim limit depends on certain circumstances.

To work out if you qualify for the scheme, HMRC have produced a useful flow chart - Can my organisation claim under GASDS?

The amount of the 'top-up' payments that a Charity (or CASC) can claim depends on the amount they also claim under Gift Aid.  For every £1 of Gift Aid donations that a Charity (or CASC) claims on, they can claim on £10 of GASDS donations up to the maximum limit.  HM Revenue and Customs refer to this as 'matching'.

GASDS is not a tax relief so higher and additional rate taxpayers will not be able to claim tax relief on their GASDS donations.

Should you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact Alan Taylor at the office.