Legal background
- The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme was introduced in the Small Charitable Donations Act 2012. Provisions for the administration of top-up claims, payments and overpayments are set out in The Small Charitable Donations Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/938).
- With effect from 6 April 2016, the Small Charitable Donations Act (Amendment) Order 2015 (SI 2015/2027) increased the maximum amount of small cash donations (the "specified amount") that a charity can claim a top-up payment on in any tax year under the scheme from £5,000 to £8,000.
- Access to the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme is restricted to charities within the meaning of Part 1 of Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and registered Community Amateur Sports Clubs within the meaning of Chapter 9 of Part 13 Corporation Tax Act 2010.
- Since the Childcare Payments Act 2014 was passed further details on the eligibility rules and the day-to-day running of the scheme have been set out in the Childcare Payments (Eligibility) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/448) and the Childcare Payments Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/522). These regulations were amended by the Childcare Payments (Eligibility) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/793) and the Childcare Payments (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/796).
- The Childcare Payments Act 2014 (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/537) amended section 19(3) of the Childcare Payments Act 2014 to increase the maximum top-up per year for disabled children from £2,000 to £4,000.
