09 October 2023
Payroll Giving (sometimes known as Give as You Earn) is an easy and tax-efficient way of making regular donations to your favourite charities straight from your pay. However, recent research shows that Payroll Giving to charities drops to seven-year low.
Payroll Giving Month is held yearly in February and for employees, Payroll Giving is tax-efficient and a flexible way to donate directly from your salary. In addition, for many businesses and employers this is simple to set up, boosts staff morale and increases your contribution in the community.
However, recent research by Civil Society suggested that Payroll Giving to charities has dropped to its lowest seven years. It states that charities received £9million less through Payroll Giving last year. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC’s) data shows that employees donated £128million through Payroll Giving in 2022/23, the lowest amount since 2014/15 and down from £137million in 2020/21. Some 516,000 employers offered Payroll Giving to their workers in 2022/23, down from 545 in 2021/22 and 591 in 2020/21.
Philippa Cornish, head of corporate clients at the Charities Aid Foundation, said:
“It’s concerning to see a sustained fall in the number of people participating in payroll giving schemes.
“Employers should see payroll giving as an important part of their employee value proposition, and a powerful way for their people to make a positive impact in their communities.”
Richard Bray, Charity Tax Group chair, said:
“The increase in donations from higher-rate taxpayers is a welcome demonstration that donors recognise that charities have needed support at a very difficult time.
“The increase in gift aid is also welcome and is perhaps a reflection of the bounce-back in fundraising events following the various lockdowns.
“The reduction in payroll giving is disappointing and it would be interesting to explore what may lie behind this – is it perhaps a reflection of changing patterns of working?”
Read the full article, here.
The CIPP is part of the Accessible Payroll Giving project, which is a cross-sector and cross-stakeholder initiative, to build a business case that could be taken to the government to make having a Payroll Giving scheme mandatory for companies over a certain size. You can find out more about this by visiting GOV.UK.
CIPP members can now access the Payroll Giving factsheet. This factsheet and others are available from our policy hub.
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