Giving shares to the CF Trust

Share-giving

Share-giving is one of the very best ways to make your giving go further. For the most significant gifts, the tax breaks are particularly attractive.

What are the tax advantages?

Put simply, you can claim tax relief equal to the market value of the shares on the day you make the gift, together with associated costs such as brokers' fees. The relief is against your income tax for the year. For example, if you give a charity £1,000 worth of shares and you are a higher rate tax payer, you will pay £400 less in income tax that year.

Additionally, you will not have to pay any capital gains tax (CGT) on any further increase in the value of the shares since you bought them. In theory this could mean a further 'saving' of up to 40% for a higher rate taxpayer although, in practice, the tax saving is more likely to be less than this. If your shares have gone down in value, you should be aware that you cannot use this loss to offset any other CTG liability you may have.

Where do I start?

The first thing you should do is contact a financial adviser to discuss the best ways for you to give and the tax implications.

What shares qualify for tax relief?

To qualify for income tax relief the shares must be listed or dealt on the stock exchange. Look at the financial pages of the newspapers to check this and to establish their market value on the day you make the gift.

What can the Cystic Fibrosis Trust accept?

The Cystic Fibrosis Trust would ask that you please sell any shares you would like to donate when you are next selling some of your own. To ensure that you receive the maximum tax relief you will need a paper trail of discussions with the charity before the sale is made to make it clear that this is being done one our behalf. Please call our Key Supporters Manager Emma on 020 8464 7211 (ext 7935) to discuss the process.

What if I only have a small number of shares?

The Cystic Fibrosis Trust does not accept small numbers of shares as to sell them would cost more than they are worth.

However, if you happen to have just a few shares we would be delighted if you sent them on to Share Gift, a charity which specialises in accepting large numbers of small share gifts. These shares are then sold and distributed amongst charities suggested by donors.

Please mention the Cystic Fibrosis Trust when you make your gift, only the more people say our name to Share Gift, the bigger the gift we will receive from them when they come to distribute funds!

See the Share Gift leaflet for further information on their scheme.

Please also take a look at the Giving Campaign's excellent Guide to share-giving.


Thank you for considering supporting the CF Trust in this way.