The prospect of donors being able to make just one gift aid declaration that would apply to all their charitable giving online and on mobiles and tablets, moved a step closer today after the government promised a consultation.
The Budget report stated that: “The government will consult on proposals to make it easier to claim gift aid through a wide range of digital giving channels, including options for enabling donors to complete a single gift aid declaration to cover all their donations though a specific channel.”
Currently, donors must make an individual gift aid declaration each time they give online, in order for a charity to receive gift aid on their donation. Under the consultation proposal, online giving platforms such as JustGiving, BT MyDonate and Virgin Money Giving, would be able to collect just one single declaration for all a donor’s future gifts through that website.
The news was warmly welcomed by sector commentators, as a universal gift aid declaration is something that has been sought by campaigners for a number of years.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said: “Gift aid needs to keep pace with the changing ways people give, so we welcome this proposal as a solid first step. At a time when charities are struggling financially, anything that cuts down on red tape is good news for charities and the people who give to them.”
Caron Bradshaw, chief executive at CFG, said: “This will help us to bring gift aid into the 21st century.
She added: “HMRC representatives also provided reassurance at a sector event yesterday that the new Charities Online system will have the flexibility to deal with such proposals and we are delighted that there is a good level of joined-up thought in HM Treasury and HMRC on this.”
Karl Wilding, NCVO’s head of research, also tweeted: “Treasury telling me that consultation on gift aid will also look at wording of gift aid declarations.”
Rhodri Davies, policy manager at Charities Aid Foundation, said CAF wanted to see the introduction of a simple ‘unique identifier’ for each donor – something like their mobile number or postcode, possibly - that they could use to signify their gift aid registration status, which HMRC could easily marry up to a central database of registered gift aid donors.
“And now that people are increasingly giving though mobiles and online, if that unique identifier can be automatically given to the charity without the donor even having to spell it out for them then the system can be even simpler,” Davies said. “So people could donate to charity and the gift aid stuff would just happen without them needing to do anything about it.
“That level of detail is still a long way down the road but we’re really pleased they’ve announced a proper consultation and that this is a specific element.”
