Does your employer or pension provider offer a Payroll Giving scheme? Around 4,000 businesses in the UK do. Payroll Giving enables you to donate to any UK charity, directly from your salary, whilst benefitting from tax relief on your gifts.
How does Payroll Giving work?
Payroll Giving is an easy, effective and practical way to show your support for your favourite causes. Here’s how it works…
Example 1: You’re a basic-rate taxpayer. You make a £25 Payroll Gift to your chosen charity. £25 is deducted from your gross pay, before your income tax is calculated. A HMRC-approved Payroll Giving Agency receives your donation from your employer, and passes it on to the charity (they may deduct a small fee, but employers can choose to cover this). And, because your donation is taken from your gross pay, you’ll pay £5 less in tax (20% of £25). In effect your £25 donation has only cost you £20!
Example 2: You pay tax at the higher rate of 40%. You also make a £25 Payroll Gift. Again, this donation is deducted from your gross pay, and passed on to your charity of choice. You pay £10 less in tax (40% of £25). So, in this case, your £25 donation has only cost you £15!
Our top Payroll Giving facts
You can make a Payroll Gift if the company you work for, or receive a company or personal pension from, offers a Payroll Giving Scheme.
- You can set up regular Payroll donations, or choose to make one-off gifts whenever you wish.
- You can donate to any UK-registered charity – or charities – through Payroll Giving.
- Charities can’t claim Gift Aid on Payroll donations. But you can still Gift Aid other donations if you’ve paid enough UK income or capital gains tax during the tax year.
- You can choose to donate anonymously, or share your details so the charity can thank you for your gift.
- Many employers will also match or part-match Payroll Gifts, increasing the benefit to the good causes you’ve chosen.
Making a big difference
Since Payroll Giving was launched in 1987, £2 billion has been raised for UK charities. And we’re delighted that refugees across the UK are already benefitting from Payroll donations made by Breaking Barriers supporters.
But, according to the Charities Aid Foundation, only 36% of people have heard of Payroll Giving. We hope this page will help nudge that figure up to 37%! So, thank you for reading it. And here are three things you can do now:
- Spread the word by sharing this page
- Ask your employer if you can make a Payroll gift. And…
- If they haven’t got a Payroll Giving scheme, encourage them to set one up!
Soon, you and your colleagues could be saving tax AND supporting great causes. It’s a win-win that all starts before you even receive your payslip!