What comes to mind when you hear “cellar cooling”? Probably something old-fashioned – people often imagine a system that just hums along, burning electricity 24/7 and sending your electricity bill through the roof. And they have cause for concern; who would want a climate control system constantly burning through those kinds of numbers?Continue reading →

Gift Aid is a tax relief scheme organised by HMRC that means charities can claim extra money on the donations made by UK taxpayers. The scheme increases the value of charitable donations but at no extra cost to the donor, helping charities to receive extra funds and financial support.

What Is Gift Aid?

When a UK taxpayer donates money to a registered charity and completes a Gift Aid declaration, the charity can then reclaim the basic rate of tax from that donation. This means that for every £1 donated, the charity can claim an extra 25p from HMRC.

Who Can Use Gift Aid?

Gift Aid is available to anyone who pays enough income tax or even capital gains tax during the tax year to cover the amount that is then reclaimed by the charity. The tax paid must at least equal the amount of tax the charity will reclaim or if not, the donor may need to pay the difference to HMRC.

Evesham accountants such as randall-payne.co.uk/services/accountancy/evesham-accountants, will be able to assist you with what tax relief will relate to your charitable donations.

Additional Tax Relief for Higher-Rate Taxpayers

Higher-rate and additional-rate tax payers may also claim extra tax relief on donations through their Self Assessment tax return and the difference between the higher tax rate and the basic tax rate can be reclaimed personally by the donor.

For instance, if a higher-rate taxpayer donates £100, the charity still receives £125 through Gift Aid, while the donor may then go on to claim further tax relief from HMRC directly .

You can include preferences and instructions in a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) that you make. They’re similar in sound, but they’re very different in function, and getting them wrong could result in delays or make the LPA unusable.

The simple difference:

Preferences are guidance. They instruct your solicitor on what you want to happen.

Instructions are rules. They dictate to your lawyer what needs (or does not need) to be done.

If an instruction is vague, overly prescriptive, or inconsistent with legal requirements, it could create difficulties at the registration stage or later when your attorney needs to perform their functions. For Power of Attorney Hertfordshire, visit https://beesandco.com/our-services/power-of-attorney/hertfordshire/

How instructions can backfire

Common issues include:

Too specific (e.g., naming a bank account that later changes)

Blocking pragmatic decisions, e.g., My house must never be sold, regardless of whether we need to pay for care.

Not being able to get impossible approvals (for example, all decisions should be agreed upon  by three people after we lost one of them)

Confusing the two types of Lasting Power Of Attorney (Health and welfare vs property and financial affairs)

How to write them safely

A top tip: try to keep instructions succinct, straightforward and manageable.

Preferences for values and priorities (comfort, proximity to family, moral investing).

Only use instructions on occasions that there is confidence they will not block a sensible decision.

Words like never and always should be avoided unless you really mean it.

If you are in doubt, get guidance before submitting. A properly drafted preference respects your wishes, while giving some discretion to your attorney.