Charitable donations down amid challenging economic outlook
HMRC’s charity tax relief statistics published today show tax reliefs for charities and their donors increased by 5% year-on-year for the tax year to April 2025, with business rates relief and Gift Aid paid to charities up by 7% year-on-year.
John Foskett, tax partner at leading audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK, said: “The removal of business rates relief for independent schools from April 2025 will significantly impact this relief for the April 2026 tax year, reducing the single biggest relief for charities. There’s also continued concern that this charitable relief could be withdrawn more widely if government funding dictates further tightening in the Autumn Budget.
“It is encouraging that Gift Aid payments to charities returned to their long-term trend of increasing year-on-year, rising from under £1.3bn to £1.7bn over the last decade. The number of charities receiving Gift Aid increased by 3% in the April 2024 tax year and another 2% in the April 2025 tax year, highlighting the continued addition of charitable organisations across the sector.
“It is encouraging to see that payments under the is Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme also rose, returning to their pre Covid-19 pandemic level of £40m in the tax year ending April 2025, which we are hopeful forms a steady positive trend for the sector.
“Interestingly, whilst 1.3 million people declared a donation on their self-assessment return for the tax year ending April 2024, this is about 2% fewer than the previous year, which is perhaps unsurprising given the challenging economic landscape and rising cost of living.”