Charity finance · Tax

Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) — calculator and guide

Free calculator that shows your maximum claim, the 25% top-up you'd receive, and whether the 10× matching rule is capping you. Plus the plain-English rules on what counts as a small donation.

Last updated 17 May 2026·5 min read

Work out your GASDS top-up

Tells you the maximum small-donations claim you can make this tax year, the 25% top-up you’d receive, and whether the 10× matching rule is limiting your claim. Base cap is £8,000per year. Doesn’t handle the community-buildings election — see the explainer below.

1. How much Gift Aid have you successfully claimed this tax year? (£)

GASDS is only available if you’ve made a Gift Aid claim in the same tax year. If you’re mid-year, use what you’ve claimed so far.

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2. How much have you already claimed under GASDS this tax year? (£)

Enter the value of small donations you’ve already submitted to HMRC under GASDS — not the top-up. Leave blank or 0 if you haven’t claimed yet.

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Enter a Gift Aid amount above to see your GASDS ceiling.

What counts as a small donation

HMRC’s definition is narrow and worth knowing precisely:

  • £30 or less.A single donation of £30 qualifies; £31 doesn’t.
  • Cash or contactless only. Coins, notes, or a contactless card tap on a reader. Standing orders, direct debits, cheques, online transfers and gifts in kind do not qualify.
  • Banked in a UK bank account. Money kept in petty cash without being banked is ineligible.
  • Given to your charity. Not money collected on behalf of another organisation, and not money already eligible for Gift Aid via a fundraising platform that processes it separately (JustGiving, Enthuse etc. handle their own Gift Aid).

The matching rule, plainly

You can’t claim GASDS on more than 10 times the value of successful Gift Aid claims made in the same tax year. Two examples:

  • £200 of Gift Aid claims → GASDS cap is £2,000 of small donations → top-up of £500
  • £1,000+ of Gift Aid claims → the matching rule is no longer binding; the £8,000 base cap kicks in → top-up of £2,000

Practical implication for tiny charities: if you only collect cash (no Gift-Aid-declared donations at all), you can’t claim GASDS. The fix is usually to start collecting at least one or two Gift Aid donations per year to unlock GASDS — even £20 of Gift Aid unlocks £200 of GASDS-eligible small donations.

Community buildings election (most small charities can skip)

The default £8,000 cap is per charity. An alternative — the community buildings election — applies the £8,000 cap separately to donations collected at each qualifying community building: a place open to the public where the charity carries out its purposes for at least six “eligible occasions” per year (charitable activities, not fundraising events).

Worth checking if:

  • You’re a religious charity with one or more places of worship (churches, mosques, gurdwaras, synagogues)
  • You run a Scout / Guide / cadet hut where regular weekly meetings happen
  • You run multiple buildings where charitable activities (not just hire-outs) occur on a regular schedule

For a single-site small charity with no public meetings, the community-buildings rules don’t apply — the £8,000 base cap is your effective limit. See HMRC’s detailed GASDS guidance for the full rules.

How to claim, in practice

  1. Keep a simple log of small-donation income — the date, the source (collection plate / bucket appeal / contactless reader), the total banked. HMRC may ask for it.
  2. Claim via HMRC Charities Online— the same service you use for Gift Aid claims. There’s a separate GASDS section on the claim form.
  3. Claim within 2 years of the end of the tax year the donations were collected. Donations from 2025/26 must be claimed by 5 April 2028.
  4. HMRC pays into your charity bank account typically within a few weeks of submission.

Common GASDS mistakes

  • Forgetting the matching rule. Charities sometimes claim the full £8,000 cap without realising their Gift Aid claim that year was too small to support it. HMRC will reduce the claim.
  • Including ineligible donation types. Standing orders and cheques are the most common ones treasurers accidentally include.
  • Not banking promptly.Cash sitting in petty cash for months can’t be claimed under GASDS — it has to be banked in a UK bank account.
  • Connected charities sharing the cap.If your charity is ‘connected’ to another (same trustees, same purposes), you share the £8,000 cap. Often missed by small charities with several legal vehicles.

Frequently asked

What is the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)?

A top-up payment from HMRC for charities and CASCs on cash and contactless donations of £30 or less, where collecting a Gift Aid declaration isn't practical (the collection plate, a bucket appeal, a contactless tap at the door). You get the same 25p in the pound as Gift Aid, without needing a declaration. The cap is £8,000 of small donations per year (= £2,000 top-up), unless you elect for community buildings rules.

What is the matching rule?

Your GASDS claim can't exceed 10 times the value of successful Gift Aid claims you've made in the same tax year. So if you've claimed Gift Aid on £500 of donations, you can claim GASDS on up to £5,000 of small donations (= £1,250 top-up). If you've claimed Gift Aid on £1,000 or more, the £8,000 base cap is your limit instead.

What counts as a 'small donation'?

Cash or contactless donation of £30 or less, given to a UK charity, with no Gift Aid declaration. The donation must be banked in a UK bank account. Standing orders, direct debits, cheques, bank transfers and gifts in kind don't qualify — only cash and contactless taps.

Do I need an HMRC declaration from the donor?

No. That's the whole point of GASDS — it's for small, anonymous-feeling donations where collecting a Gift Aid declaration is impractical. You just need to keep a record of how much you collected and when.

What's the community buildings election?

An alternative to the standard £8,000 cap, available where a charity operates 'community buildings' — places open to the public where the charity carries out its purposes (typical examples: churches, mosques, gurdwaras, scout huts where regular meetings happen). Under the election, the £8,000 cap applies separately to donations collected at each qualifying community building, on six or more 'eligible' occasions per year per building. Useful if your charity has several buildings. Most small charities don't qualify — see HMRC's GASDS guidance for the detailed rules.

How long do I have to claim?

Up to 2 years from the end of the tax year in which the donations were collected. So donations collected in 2025/26 must be claimed by 5 April 2028. Don't wait — back-claiming GASDS is a common low-hanging fruit for small-charity treasurers.

What disqualifies a charity from GASDS?

You can't claim if (1) you haven't made a successful Gift Aid claim in the same tax year, (2) you've had a Gift Aid or GASDS penalty in the current or previous tax year, or (3) you're a charity that's been deregistered or had HMRC recognition withdrawn. Eligible donations also can't include money collected in another organisation's name or via a fundraising platform that processes Gift Aid separately.

How do I actually claim?

Via HMRC Charities Online (the same service you use for Gift Aid). You enter the total value of small donations (and, if using community buildings, per-building totals) and HMRC pays the 25% top-up directly into your charity's bank account, typically within a few weeks.

Related guides

Sources

General information, not tax advice. Connected-charity rules, community-buildings election and historic claim adjustments can change the result for specific cases. For non-trivial claims, get the calculation reviewed by your charity’s accountant or check directly with HMRC’s charity helpline.