Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal - through LTd or personally?

[Jog On]

Link to appeal page

My accountant just told me to make this donation personally instead of my LTd as they will get the tax relief and I would then be able to record the donation on your my assessment tax return, and this would increase my basic rate earnings threshold.

Not trying to make light of an aweful situation but I was trying to decide which way to do this anyway - looks like from personal funds it is. Also clientco will match my donation 2:1.

[d000hg]

I was wondering if giving money to a rich nation like Japan is really going to make any difference to their recovery. Serious question - anyone?

[Mich the Tester]

I was wondering if giving money to a rich nation like Japan is really going to make any difference to their recovery. Serious question - anyone?

I'm not sure if it's about helping the recovery; Japan's economy and society will probably recover quite well. I think it's about the immediate need for search and rescue, blankets, food, medicines etc, as well as the logistics for carting all that stuff around while so many trains, trucks and ships will have been destroyed.

[d000hg]

And how does donating £100 online help with the logistics? I would have thought that in a rich country their problem isn't having money to spend, but finding ways to spend it.

[Mich the Tester]

And how does donating £100 online help with the logistics? I would have thought that in a rich country their problem isn't having money to spend, but finding ways to spend it.

The red cross is a charity funded partly by private donations; I'm sure they'll be playing a major role in things.

[Old Greg]

I was wondering if giving money to a rich nation like Japan is really going to make any difference to their recovery. Serious question - anyone?

I think it's about a show of support / solidarity. I'm not sure it will make much real difference as the Japanese government could as easily pay for these logistics (although if you are a keen reader of Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, you will understand the debt, stagnation and aging crises facing Japan). If you want 'bang for buck', you're probably better off donating elsewhere or saving your money for the next earthquake in a country like Haiti.

Back to the original post, why is the client co. double matching donations by their suppliers, or is it doing this for its employees? IR35 alert!

[Sysman]

My accountant just told me to make this donation personally instead of my LTd as they will get the tax relief and I would then be able to record the donation on your my assessment tax return, and this would increase my basic rate earnings threshold.

If you are on the top rate of tax, this means that the charity gets their slice of tax relief, and you get the difference between that rate and your top rate. It's really rather an efficient way to give. It may have changed, but this is how it used to work a decade ago.

with a basic rate of 20% and a donation of £100:

the charity gets £125 (you earned £125 quid to put that £100 in your pocket)

if you are on the top rate of 40%, you get the difference back (either via your tax code or when you file your tax return):

40 - 20 = 20 --> 20% of £125 = £25

so for your post tax expenditure of £75, the charity gets £125. Boomed as they say.