F
fummum
Guest
Does any one know if i can get tax back on school contributions, or voluntary donations?
Simple answer no, tax relief only applies to specific undergraduate and post graduate fees paid as per this:
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/tuition-fees.html
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/tuition-fees.html
T McGibney
Registered User
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There may be tax relief available on voluntary charitable donations if the school is appropriately registered as such, but this is subject to strict terms and conditions to avert attempted abuses.
mandelbrot
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Simple answer, maybe!
The amount has to be a voluntary contribution / donation, and you / your child can't be obtaining a benefit from it (ie reduction in fees, use of facilities etc).
Schools can be "approved bodies" within the meaning of S.848 TCA 97, so an amount given voluntarily is treated the same as a charitable donation.
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/chy2.pdf
It's important to note that if you are a PAYE taxpayer the tax relief goes to the charity/school. Only self assessment taxpayers can obtain a reduction in their personal tax liability.
The amount has to be a voluntary contribution / donation, and you / your child can't be obtaining a benefit from it (ie reduction in fees, use of facilities etc).
Schools can be "approved bodies" within the meaning of S.848 TCA 97, so an amount given voluntarily is treated the same as a charitable donation.
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/chy2.pdf
It's important to note that if you are a PAYE taxpayer the tax relief goes to the charity/school. Only self assessment taxpayers can obtain a reduction in their personal tax liability.
F
fummum
Guest
Thanks all for that link Mandelbrot and for all your comments.. looks like I'd have to be paying* 250 or more to possibly be able to claim it for the charity!
If a school asks for €125 or more per annum, then they would probably be quite happy for you to pay double every second year (assuming they are registered as having charitable status) and this way you could claim relief. I know of at least one school that encourages this.
Not new, but when my son was in primary school I used to give them a voluntary donation of €250+ p.a. and then were able to claim the tax "top-up" under the charitable donation scheme. I guess that they were an approved body for the purposes of this scheme. I don't know if many/most/all schools are similarly approved bodies?
Schools should really be encouraging getting contributions up to get this relief. Most schools have a very active fundraising committee with huge amounts of effort in bake sales, fun days etc to generate income. But if all the voluntary contributions could be consolidated or paid every couple of years to reach the limit like in the example above, the school could generate income with far less effort. All it would take is a communication to parents and some admin on the school side, ie a form filled out by the contributor to be submitted.
You'd be amazed at the number of organisations that could benefit from charitable status and tax relief on donations but don't know about it and/or don't bother - or maybe there's a lot of hassle in getting registered?
I guess a lot of them are run by volunteers and a lot survive on small contributions. Would def be worth doing the sums to see though. I know our school sets the contribution level at 250 for that reason, and tells us we can go up or down but at least we know about it.
Sorry - I wasn't referring to just schools here but also other places like cultural institutions that could avail of the scheme but don't know or don't bother. As I say, maybe there's significant work involved in getting registered as an "approved body" that sometimes makes it less attractive.