Knowledge Base

About GASDS

The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme was introduced in April 2013. It was a welcome new initiative from HMRC allowing charities to reclaim a top-up payment on small donations without the need for any audit trail.  

The top up is calculated at 25 per cent of donation value. As an income boost, GASDS is worth up £2,000 per tax year for most charities, a 25% top up of £8,000 donation value. 

No declarations, names and addresses or associated administration are required, other than keeping a record of receipts and how they arose. Known non tax-paid donations qualify, for example donations from regular donors who do not pay tax. 

The Scheme comprises two parts: 'top-up' and 'community buildings'. It's important to understand which part of the scheme is most appropriate for your charity. This is discussed further on a separate article: Top-up and Community Buildings explained'

Participation in GASDS is subject to qualifying criteria, outlined below.

Qualifying criteria 

GASDS is responsible for a large share of the support calls into Fund Filer and causes a lot of confusion. However, it’s fairly simple to understand if you bear in mind the following essential points: 

• GASDS is for cash or contactless card donations. Cheques, standing orders etc do not qualify.
  
• Only amounts of £30 or less qualify.
  
• The scheme is based on the tax year, not your accounting year, which may be different.
  
• It’s for donations. Proceeds from events, tombolas, things you are charging for or anything else that would not have qualified for Gift Aid can’t be included in a GASDS claim. 
  
• There is a limit of £8,000 on the donations total that can be be claimed upon. 
• Claiming any GASDS at all relies on your charity also claiming regular Gift Aid. A charity must have claimed on at least £800 of Gift Aid donations to qualify for the full £8,000 top-up. If less, your GASDS entitlement works on a 1:10 ratio, known as the 'matching rule'. For example, if you’ve only claimed on £200 worth of Gift Aid donations, the entitlement would only be £2,000.

Understanding what GASDS is not 

The Small Donations Scheme pays out the equivalent of the Gift Aid rebate, but it otherwise differs from Gift Aid. It is not a reclaim of tax. It is expenditure by Government. 

It is designed to cover small, cash, non Gift Aid qualifying donations, and is subject to finite limits per annum as outlined above. 

Therefore if you have a donation covered by a Gift Aid declaration from a UK taxpayer, claim through normal Gift Aid - don’t waste your GASDS allowance!