Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Robert Jenrick has responded to a written question from Laurence Robertson MP (Con, Tewkesbury) regarding the cost to the tax payer of Gift Aid and tax relief on donations:

Laurence Robertson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of (a) Gift Aid and (b) tax relief on charity donations declared on tax returns in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Robert Jenrick: HMRC publishes information about the estimated cost of Gift Aid and tax reliefs on charitable donations in “Charitable Donations and Tax Reliefs Statistics”.

Column (a) in Table 1 below shows the estimated cost to the public pursue of Gift Aid. Gift Aid is paid directly to charities on donations by Income Tax taxpayers.

Column (b) in Table 1 represents the estimated cost to the public purse of the claims for tax reliefs on charitable donations by higher and additional Income Tax payers, primarily declared through the Self Assessment tax return.

Table 1: Estimated of Income Tax reliefs for Gift Aid:

£m	(a)	(b)
Tax Year	Gift Aid paid to charities	Higher / Additional rate relief on Gift Aid donations paid to individuals
2012-13	1040	450
2013-14	1050	410
2014-15	1190	480
2015-16	1260	500
2016-17	1270	520