Payroll giving: What is it and why do we do it?

Every year, 9,000 RBS employees donate over £2.3 million through payroll giving to the charities they care about.

The UK payroll giving scheme is run through HMRC and provides a simple, tax efficient way for employees to make regular and one-off donations to charity direct from their salary. Because donations are deducted from salary before tax is deducted, tax relief is received immediately which saves the charity from having to request forms from the donor and submit tax reclaims. The scheme will celebrate its 30^th birthday in 2017.

Charities love payroll giving because it provides a valuable stream of ongoing income allowing them to plan ahead.  In 2015/16 charities in the UK received a total of £130 million through payroll giving - lots of people giving a relatively small amount every month makes a huge difference.

I recently met with Linda Minnis, the CEO of Charities Trust who RBS has partnered with for the past six years to deliver our payroll giving scheme in the UK.  She’s delighted that RBS is so committed to enabling our employees to give more to great charities and good causes.  Her view is that Payroll Giving is really easy to do, is the most tax efficient form of giving, and provides charities with a regular income stream.

For the second time as part of #GivingTuesday, RBS is encouraging employees to increase existing or create new donations by providing a £150 boost donation to their chosen charity. If an employee signs up for payroll giving or increases an existing donation by 31 December, a £150 donation from the bank will be shared by the employee’s chosen charities. Last year over 800 employees took part in the offer which led to an additional £155,000 of funding for charity each year.

In the UK, RBS is delighted to have been recognised with the Platinum Payroll Giving Quality Mark. We remain committed to providing the scheme in the future and will continue to encourage our employees to support the charities they care about.