Gift Aid?

[brainiac]

I'm doing a charity walk in the summer and have set up a JustGiving page, which works well.  A neighbour gave me £40 in cash as a donation which I kept and paid £40 on the JustGiving page from my bank account.

I ticked the Gift Aid box which mentioned something about £6.90, which I assumed was the sum the charity I'm walking for could claim extra from the government.  However, I see from my bank account that £46.90 was taken.

I don't mind having paid extra, but I though Gift Aid was something that didn't cost the giver anything.  Did I agree to something I didn't notice?

[barry1010]

If you are a 20% tax payer the gift aid on £40 is £10.  You are right to say the government pays this to the charity, not the donor.

I suspect it wasn't a gift aid box that you ticked but a request for a donation to cover the charity's or JustGiving's running costs.  

[brainiac]

Thanks.  Just looked at Martin Lewis talking about this on moneysavingexpert and he says 'always tick the Gift Aid box, it doesn't cost you anything.'  I think I must have ticked something 'extra' !

[barry1010]

Yes, the extra donation for running costs.  I assume you are a tax payer

[sandyRoe]

Where's your page?

[barry1010]

I have just seen this on the Just Giving page:

"If a donation is eligible for Gift Aid, JustGiving will reclaim the tax from the government and deduct a 5% Gift Aid processing fee before sending the remaining amount to the charity."

It's not clear where they are deducting the 5% from.  

[barry1010]

Just giving takes the 5% from the money they get from the government.

Did you tick the 'tip' box?

https://help.justgiving.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017904857-What-is-Tip#:~:text=This%20means%20that%20tips%20(like,tip%2C%20it%27s%20in%20safe%20hands!

[elliemay1]

I have a work's related pension and also State Pension, can I join a Gift Aid scheme? 

[barry1010]

Ellie, if you pay tax you can tick the 'gift aid' box whenever you donate to charity

[brainiac]

Yes barry, I think the 'tip' might be it

[elliemay1]

Thanks barry x

[stevemarkovick]

It is surprising how easy it is to assume that ticking Gift Aid means no extra charge, when in fact some platforms like JustGiving also prompt for optional tips or donations at checkout. I had a similar experience where I ended up paying a bit more than expected because I didn’t realize I had left the default tip option selected. It is definitely something to watch out for when making donations online — not a bad thing if you intend to give extra, but good to be fully aware of it.

[stevemarkovick]

It’s easy to assume the Gift Aid checkbox just allows the charity to claim extra from the government, but platforms like JustGiving often also prompt for a “tip” or voluntary contribution to cover their own costs. I’ve had the same thing happen where I paid more than expected because I didn’t realize a default tip was added at checkout.