He may be cute but we all know what his real intentions are. You can unwittingly turn him into a modern day Robin Hood however, by denying him some of your hard earned money by giving it to us instead with no Tax penalty (we promise to do a much better job at making sure it reaches those that need it most!)

If you are serious about giving to Charity, then you will want to make sure that you are giving as effectively and efficiently as possible. The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has been helping people support their favourite charities for more than 25 years and last year their donors gave over £66 Million to good causes. CAF is a registered charity which provides services that are both charitable and financial.

Some of the Tax efficient ways of giving are:-:

If you are a UK resident and a taxpayer, Gift Aid is a way for you to get tax relief for cash gifts to charity. The Charity claims the tax back from the Inland Revenue. This means that as long as you are a UK taxpayer, you supply your name and address and indicate that you want your donation to be treated as gift aid, then we as a Charity can claim back the tax you have already paid on that money. Higher rate tax payers can claim the difference between basic and higher rate tax on their tax return.

Give as you earn donations are deducted from your pay before tax, so each £10 you give will only cost you £7.80 - If you are a higher rate taxpayer the cost to you is only £6.00.

The CharityCard account is a simple way to make all your giving tax-effective. You can fund your CharityCard Account in a number of ways - regularly by Direct Debit, by simple gifts at any time or bu gifting stocks and shares. Your CharityCard can be used to make donations by post, phone or online. You can even shoose to give anonymously if you wish.

Setting up a CAF Charitable Trust is an ideal way to involve your family in making donations to charity. You can fund your Trust in the way that suits you best - single sums, regular gifts or stocks and shares. Gifts paid into your CAF Charitable Trust can be made tax-effective, giving you the freedom to give more money to recognised charities or approved organisations.

Every day in this country 2000 people die and leave their families with all the problems of Intestacy - dying without having a legally valid will. (Over 70% of people do not even have a Will!)  Most people assume that all their possessions will automatically be passed on to their spouse or other members of the family. Unfortunately, many people face immediate financial hardship and even have to sell the family home- simply because no Will has been written.

Inheritance tax isn’t just for the very wealthy. It affects anyone whose total estate exceeds £250,000. This may seem a lot until you consider all of your assets together – your house and contents, your car, investments, and personal belongings such as jewellery. If you find that your assets do exceed this figure you need to take steps now, because 40p in every £1 over £250,000 could be lost to the Inland Revenue.

S0, if you answer yes to any of the following:

• I want my estate to be divided in a way that gives me a choice in the matter

• I do not have a will, or mine is over 5 years old.

• I want to know how much inheritance tax the average couple might have to pay?
• I want to know how I could help the long term future of the Trust, rather than the Inland Revenue?

  then talk to a Solicitor now.