If your workplace has a Payroll Giving scheme, and you are taxed through PAYE, you can donate to ME Research UK direct from your wages, and it’s tax-free!
For example, if you are a basic rate taxpayer (i.e., pay tax at 20%) and give £20 per month to ME Research UK through Payroll Giving, the tax relief means that it will cost you only £16. Tax relief is even more advantageous if you are a higher rate (40%) or additional rate tax payer (45%). Payroll Giving is also possible for people in receipt of an employment pension who are taxed using PAYE.
It’s all very easy to organise. Just approach the Personnel or the Payroll Department at your work and, if they have a scheme, they will give you the relevant form. HM Revenue & Customs’ website has a list of Payroll Giving agencies and explains payroll giving in greater detail.
Give As You Earn
Alternatively, your employer may be running the Give As You Earn scheme, the UK’s largest and most successful payroll giving scheme administered by the Charities Aid Foundation. Under Give As You Earn, any employee or pensioner paid under PAYE can donate to any charitable organisation in the UK.
If your employer is a member of the scheme, you can sign up online straight away — the Give As You Earn website will tell you if your employer is a member, and it includes a calculator so you can see how much your donation would be worth to ME Research UK. If your employer is not already a member, you can contact the Charities Aid Foundation for further information on signing them, and yourself, up to the scheme. Or look at other payroll schemes at Workplace Giving.
