Gift Aid and Belper & District u3a
As a Registered Charity, Belper & District u3a is able to reclaim 25% of the membership fees paid each year by those members who have completed a Gift Aid Declaration.
This means for each £10 annual membership fee we are able to claim back £2.50 from HMRC.
Last year we received almost £1,000 in Gift Aid, which helps us keep the annual membership fees low.
There are certain rules imposed by HMRC before we can claim for Gift Aid on a member’s membership fee
Member has to:-
- have completed a Gift Aid declaration consenting to Belper & District u3a making a claim on their behalf
- be a current UK tax payer
- have paid enough tax in the relevant financial year to cover the claim
- have paid the membership fee themselves
If you did not sign up for Gift Aid when you joined but would now like to/are eligible to do so, you can download and complete a Declaration Form and send it to the address provided. Alternatively, when you renew your membership online, there is the facility to indicate you would like us to claim Gift Aid on your behalf.
The HMRC rules on eligibility to claim Gift Aid on membership fees have the following implications:-
If you pay membership fees on behalf of another person, HMRC regards that as a gift to them, so we are unable to claim for that portion of the payment.
So, if you share an address with another u3a member and you want us to be able to claim Gift Aid on both of your membership fees, please renew your memberships in separate transactions.
- If you renew online via the Members Portal, please do not use the facility to pay for both memberships in the same transaction, as we would only be able to claim for one of the membership fees.
- we are only able to claim for the membership fee of the person who completes the transaction – therefore if only one of you sharing an address is eligible for Gift Aid (and has completed a Gift Aid Declaration), you can pay for both membership renewals together, but it should be the taxpayer who completes the transaction. If the non-taxpayer makes the payment none of the payment will be eligible.
- If you renew via a bank transfer the same restrictions apply
We are required by HMRC to retain the records of all who kindly completed a Gift Aid Declaration for six years after they cease to be a member. After that the record will be deleted from our system.
If you want to find out more about Gift Aid you can visit the HMRC website - Gift Aid and Charities pages