Annual statistics for charity tax relief

HMRC have published 'UK charity tax statistics commentary: April 1990 to April 2020'. The statistics release is the annual update of reliefs claimed by charities and individuals following a charitable donation.

Note: It seems HMRC has made a mistake in the report's title and should probably read 'April 2019 to April 2020'. The key points of the report are:

• For the tax year ending April 2020, Tax reliefs on donations to charities increased £0.2 billion to £5.7 billion.
• £4.0 billion of this was granted to charities and the remaining £1.7 billion to Individuals.
• The largest tax reliefs in tax year ending April 2020 were all slightly higher than the previous year:
  • Non-domestic rates (business rates) reliefs, now at £2.3 billion.
  • Gift Aid at the basic rate of Income Tax, paid to charities, £1.4 billion.
  • Relief for Gift Aid donations at higher rates of tax, paid to individuals, £0.5 billion.
  • Inheritance Tax reliefs at £1.0 billion.
  • Smaller reliefs were worth around £0.5 billion.
• Just over half of the value of Gift Aid repayments went to charities that received less than £1 million each, in line with previous years.
• The number of individuals declaring a donation via Self Assessment is steady at around 1.2 million. The total value of their donations has grown fairly steadily since April 2014, standing at £3.2 billion.

Useful guides on this topic

Gift Aid
This introductory guide is not intended to comprise exhaustive coverage of the subject. Reference should be made to the legislation for all technical and practical questions.

Gifts to Charity
Gifts to Charity: can you obtain tax relief on a gift to your local charity or community amateur sports club? What about gifts to your church, mosque, synagogue? Do you need to be a taxpayer? 

IHT: lifetime charitable giving
A discount on the rate of Inheritance Tax (IHT) applies for deaths after 5 April 2012 where 10% or more of the net value of the estate is left to charity under the terms of a will. Donors may improve their charitable objectives by making a lifetime donation under Gift Aid.

External links

HMRC's 'Annual statistics for charity tax relief'

Charity Commission’s Charity register statistics

Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving 2020