Gift Aid

Dear Member,

HMRC comes to the aid of non-profit-making organisations like ours with a scheme for charities that allows us to treat you as a charitable donor in respect of your membership subscriptions. Moreover, we can benefit from all subscriptions paid in the last 5 years, and into the future as the law stands now. If you are a Life, Annual or an Associate member and you fit the criteria below, perhaps you would like to assist the Society financially?

Gifting your subscription could hardly be easier and it would be of enormous benefit to the Society - just complete the form at the bottom of the page and send it back to the office.

What is Gift Aid? Gift Aid is a long-standing scheme available to charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs). It means they can claim extra money from HMRC.

The charity or CASC can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you donate. That’s as long as you’ve paid the basic rate of tax and make the donation from your own funds. That means Gift Aid can increase the value of your donations by 25%, so you can give even more to the causes you care about.

Gift Aid is important for charities, and means millions of pounds extra go to the charity sector. Each time an eligible tax payer donates and forgets to tick the Gift Aid box, the charity misses out on money the government intends it to have.

Are my donations eligible for Gift Aid? A charity can claim Gift Aid when you make a monetary donation from your own funds and have paid UK/Scottish Income and / or Capital Gains Tax during that tax year.

The amount of tax you pay needs to be at least equal to the value of Gift Aid the charity or CASC will claim on your donation(s).

If circumstances change and you no longer pay enough tax, it’s important to tell all the charities you support. If you don’t tell them and they continue claiming Gift Aid, you’ll need to pay any difference back to HMRC. Why are some donations not eligible for Gift Aid? Donations from non-UK/Scottish taxpayers are not eligible for Gift Aid.

HMRC regulations also mean that we can’t reclaim Gift Aid on a donation if the donor told us that: • the donation was on behalf of someone else or a group of people • the donation was on behalf of a company • the donation was to a family member or friend doing an event where the charity is contributing to their costs • the donation was made in return for goods, rights or services.

So please Gift aid your subscription. Just read this form to make sure you are eligible, fill it in with your name and address and send it back to us.

The Highland Cattle Society SCIO - Gift Aid Scheme

I wish my subscription to the Society, for past, current and future subscriptions, to be treated as GIFT AID until I notify you otherwise. I also confirm that I have paid and expect to pay UK/Scottish income tax and/or capital gains tax in the current and last 5 years at least equal to the amount of my subscription.

First name:................................................................. Surname: .................................................................. Address ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................. Post Code:...................................

Signed:...................................................................... Date joined: ..............................................................

(for HCS office purposes only)