How do I record donations to charity in my self assessment tax return?

If you have donated to charity in a tax year, you might be able to claim tax relief through your self assessment tax return. In order to claim tax relief, it is important to keep records of all your donations, and the Gift Aid claimed on each of these.

If you are filing your self assessment yourself, you will be asked in the tax return form whether you have donated to charity. You can select ‘yes’ and you will then complete details of your donation.

If your accountant is preparing and filing your self assessment tax return on your behalf, you will need to provide them with the details of this. It is important to provide the date of the donation, the amount donated, and the amount of Gift Aid claimed.

If you have paid your charitable donations through your sole trader business, you should exclude them from your business expenses, and claim them separately in your tax return.

Please note that many crowdfunders for individuals are not deemed to be charitable donations and so are not allowed for tax relief. Gift Aid is not claimable on any donations that come with a prize (for example a raffle , or an entry to to a competition such as Omaze.) If you have claimed Gift Aid and did not have to pay any tax in the tax year, you may have to repay the Gift Aid that was claimed on your behalf. Gift Aid should only be claimed if you are a UK taxpayer. Gift Aid should not be claimed if you are paying via your limited company. SwiftAid have a great short video to help explain Gift Aid in more detail.

If you need help completing your tax return, please get in touch.