Cross border charitable giving

I still live in the US, but since my Mum passed away I've been giving some money to her church in the UK. It's not a recognized US charity and so I don't exclude those payments from my US taxes and as I'm not a UK tax payer the church doesn't get Gift Aid on the money. i was wondering if there's a simple fix to get the church the Gift Aid; just gift the money to a UK tax payer and then ask them to make the donation to the church along with a Gift Aid declaration.

I still live in the US, but since my Mum passed away I've been giving some money to her church in the UK. It's not a recognized US charity and so I don't exclude those payments from my US taxes and as I'm not a UK tax payer the church doesn't get Gift Aid on the money. i was wondering if there's a simple fix to get the church the Gift Aid; just gift the money to a UK tax payer and then ask them to make the donation to the church along with a Gift Aid declaration.

That sounds a bit risky as the money you would gift to a UK tax payer to then gift to the church was never subject to UK tax so should not qualify for UK tax relief when donated to a charity. The gift aid system is for HMRC to give back tax payer money to charities from money that has already been taxed.

That sounds a bit risky as the money you would gift to a UK tax payer to then gift to the church was never subject to UK tax so should not qualify for UK tax relief when donated to a charity. The gift aid system is for HMRC to give back tax payer money to charities from money that has already been taxed.

Yes that was what I thought too, but the money has been taxed...just in the US so I wonder if the DTA might apply in some round about way ;-) Or think of it like this, I'm giving money to a UK resident, they just happen to use their own UK income that's been taxed in the UK to give to the charity. There are dual registered conduit charities that will help, but they are set up for big donations and charge big fees.

Yes that was what I thought too, but the money has been taxed...just in the US so I wonder if the DTA might apply in some round about way ;-) Or think of it like this, I'm giving money to a UK resident, they just happen to use their own UK income that's been taxed in the UK to give to the charity. There are dual registered conduit charities that will help, but they are set up for big donations and charge big fees.

Still sounds like a scam to me unless you can quote from the DTA that states that UK charities can get money refunded from UK taxpayers for donations that have never been taxed by HMRC. I’ll leave it there, just my opinion.

Still sounds like a scam to me unless you can quote from the DTA that states that UK charities can get money refunded from UK taxpayers for donations that have never been taxed by HMRC. I’ll leave it there, just my opinion.

I tend to agree with the spirit of what you are saying, but my gift to the UK tax payer requires no reporting and is not taxable. So what's to stop said UK tax payer from using their own money that they have earned in the UK, and paid tax on, to make a charitable donation and do a Gift Aid declaration? The only reason why I probably won't do it is because my wheeze would involve someone else and I would never ask anyone to do anything not 100% ok.

I tend to agree with the spirit of what you are saying, but my gift to the UK tax payer requires no reporting and is not taxable. So what's to stop said UK tax payer from using their own money that they have earned in the UK, and paid tax on, to make a charitable donation and do a Gift Aid declaration? The only reason why I probably won't do it is because my wheeze would involve someone else and I would never ask anyone to do anything not 100% ok.

For sure, if someone asked me to do what you suggest I would refuse, regardless of whether or not I thought I might get audited because I believe it is circumventing the law. But that is just my moral compass which I realize is unique to me.