The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) is a scheme setup by HMRC for registered charities that accept small donations such as cash given in bucket collections.
So that these charities can benefit from the tax relief offered to larger charities in the form of gift aid, the small donations scheme was introduced.
What is the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)?
GASDS lets registered charities claim a 25% tax rebate of up to £2,000 (or £8,000 gross donation) on:
- cash donations of £30 or less
- contactless card donations of £30 or less collected on or after 6 April 2019
Up to the 5 April 2016 the limit was £1,250 (or £5,000 gross donations).
Who Can Claim the Small Donations Scheme?
Charities must be registered but gift aid declaration forms are not required. In addition, the charity must have claimed Gift Aid:
- in the same tax year as you want to claim GASDS
- must not have received an HMRC penalty in the last 2 tax years
Record Keeping for the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme
As a charity you’ll need to record the following information:
- total cash donations collected
- the date the cash was collected
- date it was paid into a bank account
- receipts from card machines to document contactless card donations
Can the Donor Claim Tax Relief?
Unlike the gift aid scheme, there is no declaration form so that means the donor cannot claim tax relief even if they are a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer.