- What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid is an income tax relief designed to benefit charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs). If you’re a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid increases the value of your charity donations by 25% because the charity can reclaim the basic rate of tax on your gift – at no extra cost to you.
Find out more about the charity tax relief here: gov.uk/donating-to-charity (opens in new tab)
Find out if you qualify to add Gift Aid to your donations here: swiftaid.co.uk/check (opens in new tab)
- How do I check if I've paid enough tax?
To work out if you’ve paid enough tax to cover your donations, divide the donation value by four.
For example, if you give £100 in a particular tax year, you will need to have paid £25 tax over that period. (£100/4 = £25). (Note that this calculation is based on the basic rate tax of 20 per cent).
If you don’t think you’ve paid enough tax this year, you may be able to carry back your donation to the previous tax year.
- How do I know if I'm a UK taxpayer?
You are a UK income taxpayer if any of the following are true:
- Tax is taken from your wages or pension before you receive them.
- You fill in a self-assessment tax return for HMRC.
- You have any taxable savings (e.g. in a building society), a pension plan, or investment income.
You may also have paid capital gains tax on the sale of property or shares, for example. Inheritance Tax does not count as income or capital gains tax.
Learn more about Gift Aid from HMRC (opens in new tab)- How does Gift Aid work for higher rate taxpayers?
If you pay a higher-rate tax, you can claim the difference between the higher-rate tax (40% or 50%) and the basic-rate tax (20%) on your donation’s total ‘gross’ value.
If you pay Income Tax at a higher or additional rate and want to claim the additional tax relief due. In that case, you must include all Gift Aid donations from your Swiftaid end of year statement on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.
- How do I check if I've paid enough tax?
👆 Watch our 3 minute video to learn about Swiftaid
You can also watch a short video explaining how Gift Aid works below and use our anonymous eligibility checker to help find out if you are eligible to add Gift Aid to your donations.
Learn more below 👇Millions of donors and hundreds of charities already use Swiftaid
Create a free account to get started
Creating a Swiftaid account is free. Automating Gift Aid on your donations and receiving an end-of-year statement cost nothing. An optional paid plan unlocks more from your dashboard. Here's what being a Swiftaid user means:
Easily add Gift Aid to more donations through our extensive network of charities, platforms, and providers, including previously impossible donations like contactless.
Gift Aid will be added from the start of the tax year you authorised us until its end. Authorisations between 1 March and 5 April extend this to the next tax year, maximising your impact.
If you make enough donations we'll send you an end-of-year statement detailing how much Gift Aid you raised, celebrating the difference you've made.
Rest assured that your information will only be used to process Gift Aid on your charitable donations and to contact you regarding your account.
Easily reauthorise Swiftaid each tax year to keep effortlessly boosting the value of your donations by 25%.
You can participate in our annual Great Gift Aid Hunt, with a chance to add Gift Aid to more of your donations. Look out for an email at the end of the tax year.
Learn how Gift Aid works
Watch our short video that explains how Gift Aid works or learn more about donating to charity in the UK at gov.uk/donating-to-charity (opens in new tab) .
You can also use our anonymous eligibility checker to help find out if you are eligible to add Gift Aid to your donations.
What being a Swiftaid user means for others
Every year £564 million in Gift Aid is missed by UK charities. By using Swiftaid you can help us to make sure that charities receive Gift Aid on as many donations as possible.
You are in control
Log in to your Swiftaid dashboard at donor.swiftaid.co.uk (opens in new tab) using your email address to review and update your information at any time.
From your dashboard you can also freeze your account to pause Gift Aid claims, renew your authorisation each tax year, or close your account entirely, for example if you no longer pay sufficient tax or simply no longer wish to use Swiftaid.
Who is Swiftaid?
Streeva Ltd, the company that created Swiftaid, was founded in February 2015 and is based in the UK. Swiftaid is listed on HMRC’s registered software providers (opens in new tab) and is a recognised donor intermediary and charity nominee.
Swiftaid is certified to the top international standard for Information Security (ISO 27001) and Business Continuity (ISO 22301).
In February 2018, development was started on Swiftaid in partnership with the University of Surrey with the support of public funding from Innovate UK. The project successfully proved the concept to automate Gift Aid on contactless donations with Visa in November 2018. You can read a blog along with a short video here about the proof of concept event.
Swiftaid Privacy and Terms
Read our Swiftaid account Terms and Privacy Policy by clicking the links below.