I was born at the end of the cold war, unaware of the danger we were emerging from. Duck and cover drills (as if those could protect schoolchildren from a nuclear blast) were a curiosity of the past.
The farmer-poet Wendell Berry, who wrote about the dread of nuclear war, died recently. From his 1968 “The peace of wild things”:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least...
TL;DR: If you're a UK-based EA who pays higher-rate tax, you're probably not making full use of Gift Aid.
Warning: I'm not a tax adviser, so this isn't tax advice. Figures are for 2026/27 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Background
Most UK EAs know about Gift Aid, the nifty scheme where the government tops up your donation by 25%, making it stretch further. However, because most UK taxpayers don't file their own tax returns, they're probably unaware that donating via Gift Aid also lets higher-rate taxpayers claim back extra tax, and lowers the income figure HMRC uses for the Child Benefit charge.
For people who pay the higher rate of income tax (over about £50k) and donate a considerable amount, this turns out to be quite significant! It matters even more for parents, because HMRC claws back Child Benefit once the higher earner's income goes over £60k (and in full at £80k).
Numerical example
Suppose you earn £65k, have one child (and are the highest earner in your household), and give £6,500 a year under Gift Aid. You can claim back about £1,977 through Self Assessment or a tax code change, which is roughly 30p for every £1 you give. Combined with the 25% uplift, that means every £1 of real cost gets about £1.80 to the charity.
Here is a table to show how big the multiplier can be:
If you donate significant amounts through Gift Aid, it's worth making sure you're claiming your higher-rate relief, either by filing a Self Assessment or by asking HMRC to adjust your tax code. This applies particularly if you pay higher-rate tax and have kids.
If you end up doing this, save yourself some money and maybe donate a bit more, let me know in the comments 😁
