Tax relief on charitable donations?

Do I understand this correctly?

Say I give 100euro to a charity - do I have 3 options?
1. pay 100 euro and claim tax relief at my highest rate - net cost to me 58 euro + extra tax as a taxpayer
2. pay 100 euro and allow the charity to claim on my behalf - cost to me 100 euro + extra tax as a taxpayer
3. pay 100 euro and no one cliams tax relief - cost to me 100 loss and no loss to state tax take

I guess what's at the back of this is that I'm not convinced that tax relief on charitable donations makes sense for the taxpayer. Based I suppose on a sense that many charities do not make best use of the funds received.

AFAIK the minimum amount qualifying for this type of relief is/was €250. You should have a look [broken link removed] to clarify.

Subject to the 250 limit that Sue Ellen mentions, I don't think you can choose between 1+2. Option 1 is only available to self-employed (which is why charities ask self-employed to gross up whatever donation they want to give net). Option 2 is for PAYE employees who want the charity to get the benefit of the tax paid. Option 3 is open to anyone - just do nothing - but I don't know why someone would feel happy enough with a charity to make a donation but not want the charity to get the benefit of tax relief.

orka said:

I don't know why someone would feel happy enough with a charity to make a donation but not want the charity to get the benefit of tax relief.

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Simple, the donation is out of your own pocket, the tax relief is a decision on whether you want the charity or the state to have the money

Does anyone know if you are PAYE but submit a form 12 for dividends etc., which way you should claim for charitable donations? Can you still let the charity claim it or should you claim it yourself on the form 12?

I have deleted the off-topic responses.

Please keep this thread to discuss the mechanics of the tax relief on charitable donations.

Brendan

circle said:

Does anyone know if you are PAYE but submit a form 12 for dividends etc., which way you should claim for charitable donations? Can you still let the charity claim it or should you claim it yourself on the form 12?

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If you have both PAYE and self-assessed income, you must claim it against your self-assessed income.

An investigation by Bloomberg, the business paper, has found a fundraising business, InfoCision, is pocketing a generous slice of funds raised for non-profit organizations. People generously give millions to numerous foundations, but the company is pocketing up to 80 percent of the profits.

Can still get tax relief on donations to eligible charities?

Answer:

Relief is still available on charitable giving but the way it is administered changed 01/01/2013. Self employed and self assessed tax payers can no longer claim it back themselves, but where more than €250 pa is donated to a recognised charity, the charity can now claim the tax back for all tax payers (self employed, self assessed and PAYE) at a blended rate of 31%.

So no you can't get tax relief Sumatra.

anntay said:

An investigation by Bloomberg, the business paper, has found a fundraising business, InfoCision, is pocketing a generous slice of funds raised for non-profit organizations. People generously give millions to numerous foundations, but the company is pocketing up to 80 percent of the profits.

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People have a hang up on what use their donations are used for. They want 100% of their money to go directly to the cause.

What about this. €100,000 of donations is given and not 1c goes directly to cause. Instead it is used to pay the cost of hiring a professional fund raiser who brings in €1,000,000 in donations for the charity.

Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie