Gift Aid

(asked on 22nd February 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish updated statistics for the amount of Gift Aid that is unclaimed each year.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 1st March 2022

The Government is committed to proving support to the charitable sector worth over £5 billion per year. Gift Aid - a key part of this - is one of the most generous tax reliefs available – worth £1.4 billion per year to charities and £500 million to their donors (through higher rate relief).

In March 2018 HM Revenue and Customs published research on charitable giving and Gift Aid and the key findings were that, for the 12-month period up to January 2016, £560m of Gift Aid was not claimed where it could have been and £180m of Gift Aid was incorrectly claimed. However, as neither charities nor their donors are required to tell the Government about donations on which Gift Aid is eligible but not claimed, there is no administrative data to publish. Therefore, the 2018 figures have not been updated.

HM Revenue and Customs works closely with the charity sector to help ensure donors are aware of Gift Aid and are able to make informed decisions about whether or not they qualify for the relief but ultimately it is a choice for the donor. The Government is always open to new ideas to improve eligible Gift Aid take-up and to ensure that Gift Aid is fit for the future.

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