14. Payroll giving and post-tax salary donations
This section includes the standards for promoting payroll and post-tax salary donation schemes in the workplace. It includes meeting HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) requirements and making sure that employers and employees have clear expectations about how your scheme works.
There are various types of fundraising within the workplace, and there are specific laws and self-regulation that you should keep to. The Code of Fundraising Practice specifically covers donations made direct from an employee's salary. This could take either of the following forms.
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Payroll giving - a tax-efficient scheme where the donation is taken from employees' pay before tax is taken.
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Post-tax salary donations - where employees' donations are taken direct from their salary after tax has been taken.
These schemes only apply to giving to charities, and all payroll-giving schemes must be run through a payroll-giving agency chosen by the employer. Payroll-giving agencies receive employees' donations which the employer has taken through the payroll, and pass these to the relevant charities. HMRC's website has a
list of currently approved payroll-giving agencies.