Small charitable donations given Gift Aid style top-up

Charities and sports clubs will be able to claim top-up payments - similar to Gift Aid payments - on small donations, following changes in a Bill currently going through Parliament.

The new Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) will allow charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) to claim a Gift Aid style top-up payment on small individual donations up to £20. Top-ups will be available on a maximum of £5,000 worth of donations during a tax year.

Qualifying charities and CASCs could claim up to £1,250 in repayment from HMRC.

It is estimated the GASDS will boost the income of charities by up to £100m in funding a year by 2015-16.

Chloe Smith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: "The Government is committed to encouraging charitable giving and building a more socially conscious society. Key to this is building a stronger culture of giving. The proposals in this Bill are part of that drive.

"The scheme will particularly help small charities that rely on bucket collections, where it is impractical to get the paperwork required under Gift Aid. They will now be able to claim a Gift Aid-style payment on small donations without the need to collect donors' details.

Charities will be able to claim GASDS from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from April 2013.