A white and tan kitten being held by a Blue Cross member of staff, wearing a blue fleece with a Blue Cross logo

Gift Aid

Find out how Gift Aid works and how you can allow us to claim Gift Aid on your donation.

What is Gift Aid?

Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows charities like Blue Cross to claim an extra 25p from HM Revenue and Customs for every £1 you donate to us, as long as you are a UK taxpayer.

How does it work?

An infographic explaining how Gift Aid works. The infographic is blue and uses graphics of arrows, notes of money, a cat and a dog to explain the process. It reads: How Gift Aid works: You kindly donate to Blue Cross; we claim an extra 25 per cent from the government at no additional cost to you; we receive £25 for every £20 you give!

If you pay UK tax, income tax or capital gains tax at a basic rate of 20%, donations you make to Blue Cross will come from money you’ve paid tax on. As a charity, Blue Cross can claim this tax back from the government.

If you agree to let us claim Gift Aid on your donations, every £1 you give will be worth £1.25 to us!

If you donate items to a Blue Cross charity shop, we can also claim an extra 25% on top of the price your items sell for.

Do I qualify for Gift Aid?

To qualify for Gift Aid:

  • you must be a UK taxpayer
  • you must pay an amount of UK Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for each year (from 6 April one year to 5 April the next) that is at least equal to the tax that Blue Cross and other charities you support will reclaim on donations for that tax year
  • you’ll need to complete a Gift Aid Declaration for Blue Cross to claim Gift Aid

For more information, please find our helpful FAQs below or visit the HMRC website.

How to make a Gift Aid declaration

A logo that reads Gift Aid It in black handwritten style writing

There are several ways to make a Gift Aid declaration for cash donations.

  • When donating online to Blue Cross, check the opt-in box on our Gift Aid It section of your donation
  • Call our Customer Care team on 0300 790 9903 and we’ll send out a Gift Aid declaration form for you to complete and send back to us

Once we’ve received your Gift Aid declaration form, we can claim Gift Aid on all your donations in the past four years and all future donations until you notify us otherwise.

Please let us know of any changes to your personal details – such as a name, address or tax status change – so we can update our records. Not doing so may affect our ability to claim Gift Aid on your donation.

How to make a Gift Aid declaration at a Blue Cross charity shop

A woman and a man arrange a shelving display of shoes at our Hereford charity shop

Visiting your local Blue Cross charity shop to donate your preloved items?

If you’re eligible for Gift Aid and happy for us to claim it on items you donate, then please sign a Gift Aid declaration when you visit the shop.

We will write to you if any of the items you donated have sold and check you’re still happy to donate the proceeds to Blue Cross and for us to claim Gift Aid.

The volunteers at your local Blue Cross shop will be happy to answer any questions you have, as well as give you a Gift Aid declaration form to complete if you’d like us to claim Gift Aid on your donations.

Gift Aid FAQs

We’ve compiled some useful FAQs about Gift Aid.

As long as you have paid enough UK income or capital gains tax over the tax year to cover the amount we reclaim, you can ask us to claim Gift Aid on your donations.

Please note that if your circumstances change in the future and you no longer pay enough tax, it’s important to notify us and any other charities.

You’re an income or capital gains taxpayer if any of the following apply to you:

  • tax is taken from your wages or salary
  • you pay tax after filing a self-assessment tax form each year
  • you have taxable savings in a building society, pension plan or investments 
  • you're paying capital gains tax on the sale of property or shares

Ticking the box will not cost you any extra as long as you pay enough tax to cover the amount Blue Cross, and any other charities or amateur sports clubs you support, claim.

Please note that if you pay less Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid on your donations in the tax year, then it is your responsibility to pay the difference.

If you pay 10% or 20%, we can still reclaim 25p for each £1 you give us, so long as you pay enough tax to cover the amount we will reclaim.
 

If you pay above the basic rate of tax, you can claim the difference between the amount you pay and the basic rate on any donations. You just need to declare your donations for the year on your tax returns.

For more advice on how to check if you’ve paid enough tax to use Gift aid, please visit the HMRC website.

More from Blue Cross