If you make regular gifts to charity you may have been relying on the tax paid on your savings and dividends to cover your Gift Aid donations.

If you no longer pay tax on them due to the personal savings allowance and the dividend allowance, but continue to donate to charity under a Gift Aid declaration, the charity will assume the donation has come from someone paying UK tax and claim an amount back from HMRC. You might then be faced with an unexpected bill from HMRC for the amount that the Charity has claimed.

Don’t worry you can cancel your Gift Aid declaration but still donate to your chosen charity.  The charity will no longer benefit from the Gift Aid tax claim from HMRC but they will still value your donation. You should also bear this in mind when visiting certain attractions, which may invite you to Gift Aid your ticket entry.  You don’t want to spoil a nice day out with an unexpected tax bill!