get your company involved
As an employer or employee, you can make a big difference by starting a Payroll Giving scheme.
Payroll Giving is a scheme that enables you to give to any UK charity straight from your gross salary (before tax is deducted), and to receive immediate tax relief of up to £4 for every £10 donated.
Employers
What is Payroll Giving?
Payroll Giving is a scheme that enables your employees to give to any UK charity straight from their gross salary (before tax is deducted), and to receive immediate tax relief of up to £4 for every £10 donated.
What are the business benefits?
Quick and easy to set up and administer, Payroll Giving is a great way for you to demonstrate commitment to the causes that your employees care about. It can also aid retention and recruitment of staff - and enable you to generate a sustainable income stream to charities.
What are the benefits to charities?
Payroll Giving provides charities with regular, reliable donations that allow them to plan ahead and budget for the future. By signing up to Payroll Giving, you can generate a vital income stream to UK charities.
What are the benefits to employees?
Payroll Giving is an easy, tax-effective way to give to charity, so it costs employees less to give more. The system is easy to opt in and out of, giving donors full control over their giving.
How do I sign up?
To set up a Payroll Giving scheme, all you have to do is sign up with a Payroll Giving Agency who will transmit the donations on your behalf: it’s as easy as that. For a list of Payroll Giving Agencies please follow this link:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/businesses/giving/payroll_agencies.htm#c8
How can I get a Payroll Giving award?
By running regular promotions about your Payroll Giving scheme to maintain awareness and continuing to recruit new donors, you could be eligible for an award. For more information visit www.payrollgivingcentre.org.uk/
What do my employees need to do?
All your employees need to do is ask the payroll department to deduct regular charitable donations from their salary by filling out a simple application form, outlining how much they would like to give and to which charities.
What will this mean for my finance/payroll staff?
All modern payroll systems can facilitate Payroll Giving, usually as a simple tick box option. Your payroll staff will deduct the amount, as per any other pre-tax deduction (after National Insurance, but before tax) and forward it on to your Payroll Giving Agency (PGA), which will distribute the monies to the chosen charities.
There are no tax forms for them to complete, and record-keeping is straightforward. Your selected PGA will supply you with all the necessary help and advice to ensure that your scheme runs smoothly from the start.
Employees
What is Payroll Giving?
Payroll Giving is a scheme that enables you to give to any UK charity straight from your gross salary (before tax is deducted), and to receive immediate tax relief of up to £4 for every £10 donated.
| Employee pledges | Cost to standard rate taxpayer | Cost to higher rate taxpayer |
| £5.00 per month | £4.00 | £3.00 |
| £8.00 per month | £6.40 | £4.80 |
| £10.00 per month | £8.00 | £6.00 |
| £15.00 per month | £12.00 | £9.0 |
Why give through the payroll?
Payroll Giving is an easy, tax-effective way to give, so it costs youless to give more. Payroll donations are great for the good causes youcare about, providing charities with the regular, reliable incomestream that enables them to plan and budget for the future. Anotherimportant factor is that they don't have to spend money on raisingmoney if they can depend upon your gift being received automatically.
What do I need to do?
Providing that your employer offers Payroll Giving, it could not besimpler. You complete a form, which is usually obtained from your payroll or personnel department. The form asks you to give the name(s)of the charity or charities you want to support; there is space for youto make more than one choice.
Your employer will forward your completed form to the PGA and deductfrom your pre-tax salary the total amount you want to give. Yourdonation is forwarded monthly to the PGA and it then distributes thegift each month to the charity of your choice.
What does my employer need to do?
If your employer does not already have a Payroll Giving scheme inplace, don’t worry: it’s quick and easy to set up. Employers simplyneed to sign a contract with a Payroll Giving Agency. This is a legalrequirement and provides an audit trail for HM Revenue and Customs(HMRC) because you are getting tax relief on your gift.
Can I stop giving?
Payroll Giving is a voluntary donation, and you can stop at any time. Simply tell your employer's payroll department.
Can my donations be refunded?
No, once your gift has been deducted from pre-taxed income, it MUST goto a charity. It is important that when you complete your form youclearly indicate the charities you want to support to make it easy forthe PGA to distribute your donation. If you put down the name of acharity which is not recognised by HMRC as being able to receivePayroll Giving, the PGA will forward your donation to a charity whichhas similar aims as the one you entered on the form. They will let youknow that this is what has happened, and this gives you the opportunityto amend your form and select another charity.
Most PGAs automatically write to you when you have completed a formjust to confirm the details of the amount being donated and the chosencharities.
Will administration charges be deducted from my donations?
Most PGAs make a small charge which they deduct from your donationsbefore distributing them to charity. The charge is nominal and simplycovers their costs. All PGAs are registered charities and they make noprofit from administering Payroll Giving donations. An increasingnumber of employers pay the PGA’s charges so that the full amount ofyour donation can go to charity.
