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Gift aid eligibility as a full time student

Hey all,

I am a full time student with a very small annual income for tutoring (about £5k/p.a.). The rest of my income comes from fortunate investments from the stock market with 90% of my life's savings. My stock market income is less than the capital gains tax AEA, but I do pay stamp duty on it. So all in all I shouldn't pay income or CG tax.

My college's accountants have charged me income tax for the tutoring but I'm in the process of reclaiming it as I believe it too falls under the AEA for income tax. I was told by an accountant friend it isn't necessary for me to fill out returns form for Inland Revenue if everything falls below the respective AEAs.

I've filled out a couple of Gift Aid forms in the past. All I put was my home address, date of birth and amount paid. No signature. I've since checked HMRC's website regarding Gift Aid and it seems I'm not eligible for it as I don't "pay enough UK income tax and/or capital gains tax themselves to cover the amount of tax the charity will reclaim".

Have I committed an offence by mistakenly filling out Gift Aid forms when I'm not eligible?

Can I expect Inland Revenue knocking on my door asking me for details of my (suspected) income, as I've filled out a Gift Aid card and they have no record of income from me?

I have nothing to hide but I am not very organised or pedantic about keeping records of income and it would be a bloody pain to be asked to fill out & prove exactly how much I got from income/CG. Some tutoring is done out-of-college and tend to be paid with cash and I don't know exactly how much I get except I'm not wanting (that badly!) for money.

Thanks everyone :-) skate xx

Reply to
sk8terg1rl
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I am a full time student with a very small annual income for tutoring (about 5k/p.a.). The rest of my income comes from fortunate investments from the stock market with 90% of my life's savings. My stock market income is less than the capital gains tax AEA, but I do pay stamp duty on it. So all in all I shouldn't pay income or CG tax.

Why would you pay stamp duty on share income? Isn't it only on property purchases? That's when I had to pay it anyway.

Reply to
Aaron B

You don't pay stamp duty on share income (i.e. dividends), but you do pay stamp duty when you buy shares. It's conceivable that if shares are held in a manner whereby the income is re-invested by buying more shares, that you would be paying stamp duty regularly, which could give the impression that one is paying stamp duty on share income.

Reply to
Ronald Raygun

You need to be more precise, because "about" £5k is very near the level at which income tax begins to become chargeable.

Do you have any savings which pay interest (as distinct from dividend income from shares)? The interest is taxable income and generally has

20% deducted at source, so you need to include the gross interest in your total income.

No, but you should tell HMRC in your tax return (if you get one) how much you have donated via gift aid. All they will do is charge you the tax which the charities would have reclaimed in respect of your donations.

If you don't get a tax return, you should mention in the communication by which you are seeking to get your tutoring income tax back, that you have made donations under gift aid (and how much), and HMRC will take that into account.

Meanwhile, until you expect to become a taxpayer, you should tell your charities that you are no longer eligible and that they should cease until further notice to reclaim tax in respect of your donations.

Reply to
Ronald Raygun

Thanks.

Reply to
Aaron B

"sk8terg1rl" wrote

You "believe"?

"sk8terg1rl" wrote

If you haven't got much of a clue as to how much you've earnt, but you think it was close to the tax threshold (5K), how can you be sure it was *below* it? :-(

Reply to
Tim

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