Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 714

Meaning of "donations"

Section 714 defines what counts as a "donation" for the purposes of the payroll giving rules, including the meanings of key supporting terms such as "approved scheme", "approved agent" and "specified charity".

• A donation is a sum withheld by a payer under an HMRC-approved payroll giving scheme, constituting a gift by the individual to one or more charities specified by that individual, and satisfying any conditions set out in the scheme.
• An approved scheme must require the payer to pass withheld sums to an approved agent, and the approved agent must in turn pay those sums on to the specified charities (or retain any sum due to itself if it is itself one of the specified charities).
• An approved agent is a body approved by an officer of HMRC for the purpose of paying donations to one or more charities; the term "charity" extends to include certain other eligible bodies listed in corporation tax legislation.
• All three elements — the approved scheme, the approved agent and the individual's specification of charities — must be in place at the time the sums are withheld for the amounts to qualify as donations under these rules.