If you are a UK tax payer and you make a donation that is 10% more than the standard entrance fee, the government will give us an extra 28% on top of the total you have paid.
For example:
Adult entrance fee £7
Adult entrance fee with 10% donation £7.70
Additional cost to you is just 70 pence, but if you agree to Gift Aid, the
government will give The Observatory Science Centre 28 pence in every pound on
the total amount.
That extra really adds up over a week, a month, or a year and means that we can do so much more. Please complete a simple Gift Aid Declaration Form at our entrance desk when you pay. Any information given to us will remain confidential and will never be passed to any organisation other than the Inland Revenue. You can also Gift Aid your Membership and any donations made to our ‘Friends’.
We would like to say a really big ‘Thank You’ for supporting us this way.
Full details of Gift Aid are available on the HMRC website. These are some of the questions that we have been asked by our visitors:
Gift Aid is one of the simplest and most effective ways of giving to a charity. For every pound you give to support the charity they will receive an extra 28 pence from the Inland Revenue.
28% in addition to the total amount you have given
On 6th April 2006, the law changed. From that time you could no longer just pay a straight entrance fee and expect to call it a donation – it was required that you make a true donation to the charity, which was set at 10%. The government then permits the charity to claim back the tax on the total amount ie. The entrance fee plus the 10% donation.
Of course! All charities will be happy to Gift Aid any amount that you donate.
Just complete a Gift Aid Declaration Form (downloadable here) or ask for a
form at our reception when you pay.
It is a simple form providing your full name, address and postcode. You complete this yourself to confirm that you want the charity to reclaim the tax you have paid on the donation.
Only The Observatory Science Centre and the Inland Revenue. The information will never be passed to anyone else.
You have to be a UK tax payer and must be resident in the UK. For every £1 you donate in a financial year, you must have paid 28pence in income or capital gains tax in the same financial year.
If you declare your donation on your tax return, you can claim a rebate based on the difference between the higher rate and the basic rate when you fill in your self assessment form.