UK tax reliefs for charities rose by 5 per cent last year, latest government data shows.
Figures published by HM Revenue & Customs show the total charity tax reliefs reached £4.75bn in the year to the end of April, including a 7 per cent increase in Gift Aid to £1.7bn.
The figures show that stamp duty relief for charities in England and Northern Ireland fell by 18 per cent year on year to £280m. The relief is devolved in Scotland and Wales.
The HMRC statistics show payments to charities through the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, which allows charities to claim a Gift Aid-like payment on some small donations without the usual paperwork, totalled £40m in 2024/25, which the tax office said was back to pre-pandemic levels.
The data also shows the total amount donated to charity through payroll giving fell by £2m year on year to £125m in 2023/24, the latest period for which figures are available.
The total is down £12m from the high of £137m donated through payroll giving in 2020/21.
The total amount of tax relief claimed by donors over the course of the year was up by 5 per cent, to £1.92bn in 2024/25.
HMRC said the estimates did not include relief claimed by charities and donors on corporation tax, income tax, stamp duty reserve tax and VAT because the cost of collection for statistical purposes was “disproportionate”.