Tax-efficient giving

If you’re a taxpayer, either via PAYE or self-employed, and gave €250 or more to Sightsavers during a calendar year, we can claim back the tax you have already paid on your donations from revenue. This means a donation of €250 could be worth €362.32 – that’s an additional €112.32!

Any donations paid by you personally are eligible, provided that you didn’t obtain a tangible benefit (tangible benefit e.g. raffle tickets, raised sponsorship yourself, sponsorship of others’ activities).

The enduring tax form is valid for five years and doesn’t commit you to make any future donations. It simply enables Sightsavers to claim tax back for any year in which you gave €250 or more – without having to send you a new form each year.

If you decide later that you do not want Sightsavers to obtain the tax relief, you can cancel an enduring certificate at any stage by contacting us. Call on 01 6637666 or email at [email protected]

Don’t worry if your circumstances change. We claim automatically, and if we’re not eligible to receive any tax back, we don’t.

If you prefer to provide a certificate on an annual basis, we can send you an annual certificate. However, it is more effective if you complete an enduring certificate because it could make your donations over a five-year period tax-effective without the need for any further paperwork.

Each charity can claim tax back on your generous gift. We will only be claiming back on the money that you have given to Sightsavers.

No, we don’t need that information – and any information you do give us will be kept completely confidential.

You don’t need to reveal your tax details. You don’t need to tell us how much tax you pay – under the new system, we don’t even need to know whether you are PAYE or self-assessed or what tax rate you pay. All we need is your signature and PPS number, which you can find on most tax/social welfare documents addressed to you. We will retain this number securely and only for the purposes of obtaining tax rebates on your donations.

Yes, absolutely. When you provide us with your PPS number, these details are retained securely and only used for obtaining tax rebates on your donations.

Not at all, it won’t cost you a penny in tax or affect your tax status in any way.

There are many ways we can claim back on your donations. So even if you are retired, not currently paying tax or on maternity leave, you could still be eligible for our tax-efficient giving scheme. So please complete your form and send it back today.

You may still be eligible, so fill out the form and we’ll check for you. Please note that as a married couple, the PPS number used must belong to the person who is the taxpayer.

If you are unemployed or have a pension, you could have other means by which you pay income tax or capital gains tax. For example, you could pay tax on your pension or investments. This would make you eligible for tax-efficiency.

The approved body in the certificate is Sightsavers. So, you are associated with the approved body (Sightsavers) if, at the time you make a donation, you are an employee or member of Sightsavers, or of another approved body that is associated with Sightsavers.