Tax Benefits

Providing you are a UK taxpayer, you can boost your charitable donations greatly, just by giving in a tax effective way. The taxation rules applying to community foundations are the same as those that apply to all charities.

As a charity, The Foundation can claim gift aid on all donations. Giving through a Community Foundation allows your gifts to be increased by gift aid, even if they are for community groups which are not registered charities.

There are six main ways to give tax effectively:
(Click the headings to view more details)

Gift Aid for Individuals

Using Gift Aid means that for every pound you donate to us, an additional 28% is reclaimed from the Inland Revenue. Gift Aid covers any donation from an individual UK taxpayer, so long as a simple Gift Aid declaration is completed.

Higher rate taxpayers can reclaim the difference between standard and higher rate tax in their annual tax return – and this applies to donations made in the previous tax year and the current year. All you need to do is complete and return a Gift Aid form.

Gift Aid for Companies

Companies simply pay Sussex Community Foundation the full donation and claim full tax relief when calculating profits for corporation tax.

Share Giving

Giving shares and securities to charity has long been a useful way of unlocking capital and passing it on to good causes. Since April 2000, giving in this way has become even more attractive: individuals who give shares to charity are entitled to claim back full tax relief against the value of those shares. So, a gift of shares worth £1,000 will only cost you £600 if you are a higher rate taxpayer, or £780 for basic rate taxpayers.

Please note, while no capital gains tax will apply, where shares have fallen in value, the loss cannot be used to offset a Capital Gains Tax liability.

There are many reasons why giving shares might appeal to you. You might hold windfall shares that make little difference to you, but could make a big difference to a hard-pressed local cause. Or you may have inherited some shares which generate more paperwork than income. These could be turned into something of real value to others by donating these shares to the Sussex Community Foundation.

Gifts of Land or Property

Tax relief is possible for gifts of land and property and donors receive full tax relief from income and capital gains tax. As with share giving, you are entitled to claim relief for the full market value of the property donated.

Legacies

Legacies are donations made as part of a will. In this way you can leave something to your local area that will benefit people for generations to come. Charitable legacies are exempt from inheritance tax, and this reduces the total amount of tax paid on a donor’s estate. Depending on the size of the legacy, a charitable fund can be set up through Sussex Community Foundation in your memory, which takes into account your charitable interests. Legacies can be set up through a solicitor or contact us.

Setting up a Named Fund within our Community Investment Fund works very much like a legacy, but you can give during your own lifetime and see the real benefits that are being achieved with your gift.

See Legacies for more information about giving a gift to the Sussex Community Foundation

Payroll Giving

Setting up a payroll giving scheme at a company is straightforward and tax-efficient for employees, who can authorise their employer to deduct charitable donations from their pay before calculating Pay As You Earn tax. In this way the employee automatically gets tax relief on the value of donations at his or her top rate of tax. There is no limit on the amount that can be given under the scheme tax free up to an employee’s maximum taxable earnings. Some companies may like to add a contribution to, or matchfund, their employees’ donations as part of a corporate responsibility programme.

Through the Sussex Community Foundation employees can support a range of local charities and causes, as well as the national charities that many payroll giving schemes include.

A payroll giving or staff fundraising scheme can be an excellent complement to a company named fund.

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