Charities will be allowed to use up materials with the old Gift Aid declarations that were ordered and printed before 21 October 2015 according to updated guidance from HMRC.
We previously commented on HMRC's long-awaited changes to the Gift Aid declaration wording. The new wording is intended to be easier for donors to understand making explicit reference to the donor's tax liability and warns that the donor will bear responsibility to make up the difference should they pay less tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all their donations in a tax year.
It was previously understood that charities would have to implement the new wording into their own declarations by 6 April 2016. However, on 20 January 2016, HMRC updated their guidance note 'Gift Aid declarations: claiming tax back on donations' (click here to read). The guidance now states that whilst HMRC still recommend that charities and CASCs adopt the new wording now, they will permit charities to use up any old Gift Aid declarations ordered and printed before 21 October 2015 (when the announcement was made) before they are required to use the new form declarations.
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