There are a number of options for tax relief on charitable donations to Vega, depending on where you are based:

 

• The UK
• The rest of Europe
• The US

 

The UK

The Vega Science Trust is a registered UK charity. This enables UK taxpayers to obtain UK tax relief on their donation, while Vega, through Gift Aid, will gain an additional sum, normally around 27% of the donation.

There is a very useful page on the UK Government website for individuals or companies wishing to claim tax relief on charitable donations. This gives brief, clear descriptions for a number of different ways for charitable giving.

There is further information on charitable donations by businesses at this link.

The following is a brief summary of some of the options for tax relief on charitable giving to Vega:

Businesses: Gift Aid
If your company decides to give money to Vega, it simply makes the payment through Gift Aid and deducts the amount as a 'charge' when working out its profits for corporation tax purposes. You make the full payment to Vega. You do not need to deduct any tax from the payment and Vega does not claim back any tax on the gift. You no longer have to provide a Gift Aid certificate to Vega or provide a new form of declaration.

Businesses: Sponsoring Vega programmes or Events
If a business wishes to sponsor a given Vega programme or event, and in return Vega agrees to put the business logo on the appropriate web page of that programme, as above, the sponsorship payments are deducted when calculating trading profits for tax purposes.

Businesses: Tax relief on donation of equipment
Businesses can claim back tax relief on anything given to Vega, assuming it is something 'manufactured or sold in the course of their trade'.

Businesses: Seconding employees
Trading or investment companies, sole traders, or trading partnerships that provide assistance to Vega by seconding employees on a temporary basis can claim relief for the employment costs that they continue to incur.

Individuals: Payroll Giving
This provides tax relief at source for individuals. Once signed up, your employer takes the relevant amount off your pay before deducting any tax under PAYE.

Individuals: Gift Aid
Vega can claim back the tax on any donations given as 'Gift Aid', i.e. on which tax has already been paid. This is a great way for Vega to gain an extra 28% on anything you donate! When making a donation, we will send you a form to sign, and that's all that's required.

The Rest of Europe

Whether charitable donations to Vega are eligible for tax relief or not, and if so, what form of tax relief, depends on where you are based. There is an excellent website at "Giving in Europe" which provides full details depending on where you are based, where the funds are located, and Vega's location in the UK.

If you have any questions regarding charitable donations from another European country, please contact us and we'll do our best to find out what the situation is.

The US

Since Vega is not currently registered as a charity in the US we are unfortunately not able to reclaim tax on US donations. Note though that many US corporations operate a 'matching gifts' policy, so if you make an individual donation to Vega and are employed by a US firm, it's worth checking, they may make a matching donation to Vega too...

Irrespective of where you are based, if you or your business, corporation or firm would be interested in making a charitable donation to Vega, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can provide further details. All donations will be used directly for the production of new science programmes, and the free distribution of such science programmes over the Web.