Gift Aid on payment from a club

Can a donation from a club fundraiser be routed through an individual?

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A small sports club - not a charity or CASC - held a fundraising event & stated part of the proceeds would go to a charity.

As I understand it, if they pay it direct to the charity, gift aid would not apply as it's coming from an organisation. But if they were to pay it to a trusted individual who pays (lots & lots of) income tax, on the understanding that he then donates the same amount, I think the charity could claim gift aid.

Is that a cunning & subtle plan, or is there some reason HMRC might not be best pleased with this?

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By Accountant A
27th Jul 2018 00:37

Have a look at the Gift Aid declaration that a donor makes.

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Replying to Accountant A:
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By WhichTyler
27th Jul 2018 06:34

Just to be clear, the generic GA declaration does not include any statements about the source of funds; it assumes that the donor is giving their own money.

The reason consolidator sites such as JustGiving ask further questions (such as 'has this donation come from a collection or event') is to avoid this sort of abuse (I suspect JG are more robustly inspected by HMRC than the actual charities and would have to indemnify charities for GA incorrectly claimed)

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By WhichTyler
27th Jul 2018 04:53

Leaving aside the fact that the club said the proceeds would go to charity, not to Big Dave, and the fact that Big Dave will also benefit from higher rate tax relief, you can't use gift aid for gifts made on behalf of other people. It's not a subtle scheme, it's fraud

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By 356B
27th Jul 2018 12:06

It's not strictly claimable:

You can’t claim Gift Aid on:
•payments for goods and services
•donations of money from a company
•gifts made on behalf of other people, for example, a membership subscription paid on behalf of somebody else

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