Gift Aid is a tax relief scheme set up by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) where UK donors can give a UK registered charity permission to reclaim the tax on their donation.
REMINDER: It is your responsibility to ensure you comply with all UK legislation regarding Gift Aid. To get further information on Gift Aid in the UK, including terms, eligibility and making claims, you can read Claiming Gift Aid as a charity or CASC on the HMRC website and the Charities Detailed Guidance Notes on Gift Aid on the HMRC website.
In this article, we’ll cover how to track an eligible Gift Aid Donation and record a Gift Aid Declaration on a Customer Record.
- Recording Gift Aid Declarations
- Excluding a Donation from Gift Aid
- Recording Gift Aid Declarations Online
- Exchanging Gift Aid Donations
- Viewing a Customer’s Gift Aid Declaration
- Creating and backdating a Gift Aid Declaration
- Recording a Retrospective Gift Aid Declaration Online
- Cancelling a Gift Aid Declaration
Before reading this article, we recommend looking at the following:
Recording Gift Aid Declarations
Gift Aid declarations can be made once a Donation, Membership with a Donation element, or a Ticket Donation is added to the Basket in the Sales or Opportunities Interface. As soon as the declaration is made, it will be recorded on the Customer Record.
Each declaration in Spektrix will detail how the declaration was made (the declaration type) and what time period it should cover. You can also attach a copy of a paper declaration or other evidence if required.
TIP: Processing Donations takes place in the Sales or Opportunities Interface. In order to navigate to and access the Sales or Opportunities Interface you’ll need the Sales User or Opportunities User role, respectively.
If you don’t have either of these User Roles, contact a Settings Administrator in your organisation to edit your User Account and add the Sales User and/or Opportunities User roles.
Checking for Current Gift Aid Declarations
VIDEO: Jump ahead to our Spektrix Training: On-Demand video - Recording Gift Aid Declarations for a guided walkthrough of this process.
When both Customer and Donation, Membership with a Donation element, and/or a Ticket Donation are added to the Basket, Spektrix will check if the Customer making the donation has a current Gift Aid declaration on their Customer Record that covers the date the donation is being made.
REMINDER: The donation date refers to the Date Transaction Confirmed.
If the Accounting Date feature has been turned on, the donation date is the Accounting Date. Be sure to adjust the Gift Aid declaration time period on The Statement Page to include the Accounting Date. For information on adjusting the Accounting Date in a transaction, read the article Accounting Date.
Depending on whether the Customer has a current valid declaration, the system will prompt you as follows:
- If the Customer has a current declaration, then the pop-up will not appear and they won’t be prompted to make a declaration. You can continue to process the Donation, which will be Gift Aid claimable. If you would like their Donation to be opted out of Gift Aid, follow the steps in Excluding a Donation from Gift Aid.
- If the Customer doesn’t have a current declaration, then you’ll be prompted to add a declaration as the Donation is added to the Basket.
REMINDER: An eligible Customer will always be prompted to make a declaration. This pop-up can’t be turned off, and a Customer can’t be permanently excluded from Gift Aid eligibility.
The Gift Aid Declaration Pop-Up
The Gift Aid Declaration Pop-Up has two screens - the Statement page which indicates the time period covered by the declaration and the Details page which records the confirmation of the statement.
The Statement Page
The Statement Page contains the Declaration text and the following options to indicate the time period covered by the declaration:
Select the time period for the declaration:
- From today onwards and since [date]: Customers can select today or a date in the past to indicate the start date of the time period. The date input field defaults to exactly four years in the past.
REMINDER: If the Accounting Date feature has been turned on and you will or have adjusted and backdated the Accounting Date of the transaction, be sure that date fits within the time period of the declaration. Select either the Donation’s adjusted Accounting Date or a date earlier than that.
- From today onwards: This is the default option. The start date of the time period is the date the declaration is made.
REMINDER: If the Gift Aid declaration is confirmed and recorded today but the transaction is completed and confirmed the following day or some time in the future, the start date will be the day of the Gift Aid declaration recording.
- Today: This option has a time period for one day, on the day the declaration is recorded.
- Continue without a Gift Aid Declaration. You can add a retrospective later. This option will not include a Gift Aid declaration. However, the Donation will not be fully excluded and adding in a backdated declaration can include the donation.
REMINDER: Donations that have been processed without a declaration can also be opted out of Gift Aid. This means that if a declaration is later added and backdated, then this Donation will be fully excluded.
Once you’ve made your selection, click Next.
If the Customer chooses to continue making a declaration, you’ll move onto the next screen.
If they’d chosen to continue without a declaration, they’ll move forward to the Basket, where they can continue and confirm their transaction.
TIP: If you click Cancel out of the Gift Aid pop-up, the Customer Record will be considered without a declaration. A declaration can always be added retrospectively in the Customer Record.
The Details Page
The Details page is where you select the type of declaration.
There are three types of declaration that can be stored in Spektrix:
- Paper
- Verbal
- Online
REMINDER: Paper and Verbal declarations are the only two types of declaration available in the Sales or Opportunities Interface. Online declarations are only available through the online purchase path.
Select from the Declaration type dropdown Verbal (default) or Paper.
REMINDER: Once a declaration is recorded, Supporting Details or Supporting Documents can’t be added retrospectively or edited. To add or edit these, you can create a new declaration on the Customer Record.
Verbal Declaration
Customers can give verbal confirmations of their Gift Aid Declaration. Verbal declarations can be confirmed from the following options:
- Send details of this declaration to the customer as an email: The email field is populated with the email address on the Customer Record. Once you click Ok on the pop-up screen, the auto-generated email will be sent. This will be separate to any confirmation email for the Order.
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Generate details of this declaration to post to the customer: Once you click Ok, this will produce a mail merged letter for you to download, print and send. You can find the letter ready to download in the upper right corner of your screen. Click the link to save it on your desktop.
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Provide details manually about this declaration: Selecting this option will open a text field where you can include Supporting Details of the declaration:
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Upload a document supporting this declaration: Selecting this option will open an upload button with a green file folder icon where you can upload Supporting Documents such as a text file detailing the confirmation or an audio file.
REMINDER: Any Supporting Details or Supporting Documents cannot be added retrospectively or edited. To add or edit these, you can create a new declaration on the Customer Record.
Click Ok to confirm the declaration and complete the transaction.
Paper Declaration
Customers can fill in a declaration form (provided by your organisation) or submit a written confirmation (such as a letter, note, or email) that can then be filed and uploaded into their Customer Record.
Paper declarations can be confirmed from the following options:
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Provide details manually about this declaration: Selecting this option will open a text field where you can include Supporting Details of the declaration.
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Upload a document supporting this declaration: Selecting this option will open an upload button with a green file folder icon where you can upload Supporting Documents such as a scan of the Gift Aid declaration form or a copy of an email.
REMINDER: Any Supporting Details or Supporting Documents cannot be added retrospectively or edited. To add these, you can create a new declaration on the Customer Record.
Click Ok to confirm the declaration. Continue to complete and confirm the transaction.
Excluding a Donation from Gift Aid
If a Customer with a current Gift Aid declaration adds a Donation, a Membership with a Donation element, and/or a Ticket Donation to their Basket, their Donation can be opted out of Gift Aid while retaining their declaration for other Donations. Opting out of Gift Aid will only apply to the Item(s) selected in the Basket.
REMINDER: A Customer without a current Gift Aid declaration can also have their Donation opted out of Gift Aid. In the event that they later choose to backdate a declaration during a time period that original Donation was made, that Donation will continue to be excluded even with a declaration present.
- Select the Item(s) you would like to opt out of Gift Aid by ticking the box next to the Item.
- Next to the Reserve button below the Items, click the arrow.
- Select from the dropdown Opt out of Gift Aid.
TIP: If you try to apply Opt out of Gift Aid to an Item that is not eligible, for example Tickets without a Donation, you’ll get the following message:
A red circle with an exclamation mark will appear on the Item’s icon, indicating that it is excluded from Gift Aid.
If you no longer wish for the Donation to be opted out of Gift Aid, you will need to delete the Item from the Basket and re-add the Item.
Continue to complete and confirm the transaction.
Recording Gift Aid Declarations Online
When making a Gift Aid donation online, the Gift Aid prompt will appear at the start of the checkout journey. Checkout requires Customers to be logged into their account.
With Customers logged into their account and with a Donation, Membership with a Donation element, and/or a Ticket Donation in their Basket, Spektrix will be able to check if the Customer making the donation has a current Gift Aid declaration on their Customer Record that covers the date the donation is being made.
Depending on if they have or don’t have a current valid declaration, the Gift Aid screen will appear.
- If the Customer has a current declaration, then the screen will not appear and they’ll be taken directly to the Checkout screen. They can continue to process the Donation, which will be claimable as Gift Aid.
- If the Customer doesn’t have a current declaration, then they’ll be prompted to make a declaration.
The Gift Aid Screen
The Gift Aid Screen includes the Declaration text and the following options to indicate the time period covered by the declaration:
- From today onwards and in the past four years: This time period has a start date of four years in the past.
- From today onwards: This time period has a start date of today.
- Today: This time period is only for today.
- Don’t treat this donation as a Gift Aid Donation: This option will not include a Gift Aid declaration. However, the Donation will not be fully excluded and adding in a backdated declaration can include the donation.
The Customer should hit Continue to complete and confirm the transaction.
The Gift Aid declaration will only be added when the Order is confirmed. If the transaction is dropped after a Customer hits Continue on the Gift Aid screen but before the Order is confirmed, a declaration won’t be recorded.
Exchanging Gift Aid Donations
If you would like to change the Gift Aid status of a Donation between claimable or opted out, you’ll need to exchange the Donation as the status can’t be manually switched.
If the Accounting Date feature has been turned on, be sure to adjust the Accounting Date to the original Accounting Date so that the Donation still falls under the declaration time period.
WARNING: If you need to exchange a Gift Aid Donation that has already been claimed and submitted to the HMRC, be sure to opt out of Gift Aid as you can’t claim a Gift Aid Donation more than once.
Viewing a Customer’s Gift Aid Declaration
You can view a Customer’s Gift Aid declaration in the Customer Record under the Gift Aid tab.
The Customer Record stores a list of current and previous Gift Aid declarations for a Customer with latest declaration at the top of the list:
- Claimable: Indicates whether Gift Aid can be claimed and submitted to the HMRC. "No" values indicate cancelled declarations.
- Period: The time period with the start date of the declaration.
- Type: The type of declaration.
- User: The Spektrix User who confirms the declaration.
- Created: The date when the declaration is created.
- Attachment: Any attachments added to the declaration. A download link will appear as well as a red x icon to remove the attachment.
Creating and backdating a Gift Aid Declaration
You can create a new Gift Aid declaration directly in the Customer Record. This can be used to create and backdate declarations when a declaration wasn’t made at the time of the transaction or even before a Donation is made.
Click the Make declaration button and follow the steps for recording a Gift Aid declaration.
Recording a Retrospective Gift Aid Declaration Online
Customers who would like to add a retrospective Gift Aid Declaration can do so online using the Retrospective Gift Aid Declaration Form iframe. This allows Customers to add a Gift Aid Declaration online outside of the checkout process.
Add the following to the end of the iframe URL:
- secure/RetrospectiveGiftAidDeclarationForm.aspx
TIP: We recommend speaking to your Website Developer to add this iframe to your website.
The iframe will require Customers to log into their account. They will then be taken to the following screen, which includes the Declaration text.
TIP: Declarations made through this iframe are for today onwards and in the past four years. The Customer won't be able to select other time periods.
From this screen, Customers can click I agree. Their Gift Aid Declaration will be recorded onto their Customer Record and the Customer will be presented with a Thank you message.
Cancelling a Gift Aid Declaration
You can cancel a Customer’s Gift Aid Declaration by following these steps:
Click the Cancel Declaration button:
You’ll see a Gift Aid Declaration screen. Select one of the following options:
- From today onwards: This is the default option. All Gifts will be excluded from Gift Aid starting on the date the cancellation is made and ending four years in the future.
- From today onwards and since [date]: Select today or a date in the past to indicate the start date of the cancellation time period. The date input field defaults to exactly four years in the past.
TIP: You can only cancel a Gift Aid Declaration and backdate a cancellation to a maximum of four years from the current date.
Click Save Declaration.
Cancelling a declaration adds a new declaration line into the Customer Record with a value of No in the Claimable column:
REMINDER: All Gift Aid declarations including cancellations will remain on the Customer Record and can’t be permanently removed. The latest declaration will be treated as the current and valid declaration.
On-Demand Training - Recording Gift Aid Declarations
In this section of our Spektrix Training: On-Demand video on Gift Aid, we cover the Recording Gift Aid Declarations process.
This chapter is a guided walkthrough of:
- How to record Gift Aid declarations in Spektrix
- Where to find Gift Aid declarations in Customer Records
- How to opt Donations out of Gift Aid
VIDEO TIP: With our Spektrix Training: On Demand videos- you can stop, restart or move to specific chapters. Click the CC option to turn on captions. Click in the Settings menu cog icon to control speed, captions and quality.
Further Reading
You now have the information you need to track Gift Aid and record declarations. If you would like to submit claims to the HMRC through Spektrix, move onto:
If you are interested in more information on managing Donations and Memberships in Spektrix, take a look at the following articles: