If you are a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer you have the option to carry back your charitable donations to the previous tax year. A request to carry back the donation must be made before or at the same time as your previous year’s self-assessment return is filed.

This means that if you made a gift to charity in the current 2024-25 tax year that ends on 5 April 2025, you can accelerate repayment of any tax associated with your charitable giving. This can be a useful strategy to maximise tax relief. For example, if you would not pay higher rate tax in the current tax year but did in the previous tax year. The formal carry-back claim should be undertaken as part of the self-assessment tax return for 2023-24, which must be submitted by 31 January 2025.

You can only claim if your donations qualify for gift aid. This means that your donations from both tax years together must not be more than four times what you paid in tax in the previous year.

If you do not complete a tax return you need to use a P810 form to make a claim.

If you are a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer, you are eligible to claim additional tax relief on the difference between the basic rate and your highest rate of tax.

For example:

If you donated £5,000 to charity, the total value of the donation to the charity is £6,250. You can claim:

• £1,250 if you pay tax at the higher rate of 40% (£6,250 × 20%),
• £1,562.50 if you pay tax at the additional rate of 45% (£6,250 × 25%).