Admission Gift Aid: Claim Gift Aid on Charity Event Admission
Overview
Admission Gift Aid lets qualifying charities turn the price of admission into a Gift-Aidable donation, so you can reclaim an extra 25% from HMRC on the whole payment. It is a separate scheme from the standard donation Gift Aid covered in Donations and Gift Aid, and it is the one exception to the usual rule that Gift Aid cannot be claimed on a ticket.
At its simplest, Admission Gift Aid answers one question: Can my charity claim Gift Aid on what visitors pay to come in?
Who uses this: Organisation administrators for charities that charge admission to view property, premises, or grounds they preserve and open to the public.
Key capabilities:
- Offer a "with donation" version of eligible admission tickets, priced at least 10% above standard admission
- Make the entire payment (admission plus the uplift, plus any extra the visitor adds) a Gift Aid donation
- Reclaim 25% of that whole amount from HMRC when the visitor confirms they are a UK taxpayer
- Configure it per event, on top of your organisation's donation and Gift Aid settings
Think of it this way:
- Donations are a separate, optional amount a visitor adds on top of a ticket
- Standard donation Gift Aid reclaims 25% of that separate donation, and is configured once for your whole organisation
- Admission Gift Aid reclaims 25% of the admission payment itself, and is switched on per event for tickets that qualify
When this applies to you
Admission Gift Aid follows HMRC's "Gift Aid on admission to view charity property" rule. It is narrow and specific. Before you use it, your charity must genuinely meet HMRC's conditions: you own or maintain property, premises, or grounds that the public pays to view, admission is to view that property, and the "with donation" price is a voluntary donation of at least 10% above the standard admission price.
Note: Seaty records the declaration you make when you switch this on. It does not decide whether your charity qualifies. If you are unsure, check HMRC's guidance or speak to your charity's accountant before enabling it.
How It Works
At a glance: Switch on Admission Gift Aid for the event, mark which ticket types qualify, and visitors choose a "with donation" ticket that makes their whole payment Gift-Aidable.
1. Enable the prerequisites at organisation level
Admission Gift Aid sits on top of your organisation's donation and Gift Aid settings. In your organisation's Donations section you must, in order: enable donations, enable standard Gift Aid as a registered charity, then complete the Admission Gift Aid attestation. See Donations and Gift Aid for the full charity setup.
2. Switch on Admission Gift Aid for the event
In the event editor's Donations section, turn on Admission Gift Aid for this event and set the donation uplift percentage. The default and minimum is 10%. The "with donation" price is the standard admission price plus this percentage (for example, 10% on a £20 ticket gives a £22 with-donation price).
3. Choose which tickets qualify
In your General Admission ticket setup, mark each ticket type that should offer a "with donation" option. Add-on tickets, merchandise, and free tickets cannot qualify. See General Admission Tickets.
4. Visitors choose at checkout
Eligible tickets show two options: a "with donation" version at the uplifted price, and a standard version at the normal price. Visitors confirm whether they are a UK taxpayer, choose how many of each they want, and complete a short Gift Aid declaration. The whole with-donation payment becomes the Gift Aid donation.
5. Reclaim from your reports
Each sale stores a snapshot of the Gift Aid facts. Your Donations report lists every gift-aided order with the declaration details and the 25% you can claim. You submit the claim to HMRC yourself.
Setting up the event
The per-event toggle and percentage
The Admission Gift Aid controls live in the event editor's Donations section, not in Event Details. The section only appears once your organisation has Admission Gift Aid enabled.
- Admission Gift Aid for this event turns the scheme on for the event.
- Donation percentage sets how far above standard admission the with-donation price sits. It defaults to 10%, and Seaty enforces a minimum of 10% so every gift-aided sale stays at or above HMRC's 110%-of-standard threshold. If you enter less than 10%, it is raised to 10% when saved.
Which tickets can qualify
Only standard, paid general-admission ticket types can offer Admission Gift Aid. You mark each qualifying type in the General Admission ticket editor. Excluded automatically:
- Add-on tickets
- Merchandise
- Free or zero-price tickets
Why these exclusions? The donation must be a genuine uplift on a real admission price. Add-ons and merchandise are not admission, and a free ticket has no admission price to uplift.
What the visitor sees
At a glance: A visitor confirms their taxpayer status once, then picks the "with donation" or standard version of each ticket, and the whole with-donation payment is Gift-Aided.
The taxpayer question
Before tickets are shown, the visitor sees a short "Are you a UK taxpayer?" choice. This decides whether the Gift Aid options appear. It is a friendly qualifier, not the legal declaration: a visitor who says yes still completes the full declaration before paying. A visitor who says no sees only standard tickets and the order behaves as if Gift Aid is off.
Choosing tickets
Each qualifying ticket type shows two rows: a "with donation" row at the uplifted price (shown first) and a standard row at the normal price. Visitors can mix freely, for example two adults "with donation" and one child standard. Capacity and per-order limits count both versions together.
The declaration and the donation
Visitors who choose any "with donation" ticket complete a Gift Aid declaration (full name, UK address, and a confirmation that they are a UK taxpayer). They can optionally add an extra donation on top. The declaration is required: an order with a with-donation ticket cannot be completed without it.
Note on "no extra cost to you": The with-donation price is a real, higher amount the visitor pays. The phrase "at no extra cost to you" refers only to the 25% your charity reclaims from HMRC, which costs the visitor nothing further. Keep that distinction clear in your own wording too.
Box office and ticket requests
Admission Gift Aid is not limited to online card payments. Administrators can book "with donation" tickets through the box office, and visitors can use the ticket request system where it is enabled. For requests, the Gift Aid declaration is captured when the request is made and carried through to the order when you accept it.
Discounts and Admission Gift Aid
Discount codes never apply to "with donation" tickets. A discount only ever reduces the price of standard tickets, so a gift-aided ticket always stays at or above the 110%-of-standard threshold that HMRC requires. A visitor chooses either a discount on a standard ticket or the with-donation version, not both on the same ticket. This protects every Gift Aid claim from being invalidated by a discount.
(Standard donation Gift Aid is unaffected by discounts, because there only the separate voluntary donation is gift-aided.)
Reporting and claiming
To prepare and track an HMRC claim, use the Gift Aid claims page in the organisation admin area (under Analytics & Finance). It lists the events with gift-aided orders, exports the claimable orders as an HMRC Gift Aid schedule spreadsheet, and lets you mark orders as claimed with a who and when audit trail. It carries the donor declaration detail (name, address, house name or number, and postcode) that HMRC needs.
Gift-aided admission orders also appear in your single Donations report alongside ordinary donations, as a summary: a Scheme column showing "Admission Gift Aid" (or "Admission Gift Aid + Donation" when the visitor also added an extra amount), the donation, the total Gift Aided amount, the 25% claimable figure, and whether Gift Aid was declared. That report is for reconciliation and does not carry the donor declaration detail.
Both cover online, box-office, and request orders. Seaty calculates the figures and stores the declarations; you submit the claim through HMRC's online service and keep records for 6 years. See Reporting and Data.
Important: refunds and cancellations are not netted automatically. The Gift Aid snapshot is taken at the time of sale and does not change if you later refund or cancel a with-donation ticket. If that happens, reduce your HMRC claim by hand for the affected amount, because the report will still show the original gift-aided total.
Common Questions
Eligibility
Is this the same as the donation Gift Aid in my organisation settings? No. Standard donation Gift Aid is org-wide and reclaims 25% of a separate voluntary donation only. Admission Gift Aid is per event and makes the admission payment itself Gift-Aidable. They are different HMRC routes, set up in different places.
Does my charity qualify? Only if you meet HMRC's "admission to view charity property" conditions (you preserve property the public pays to view, and the uplift is a genuine voluntary donation of at least 10%). Seaty records your attestation but does not check eligibility for you. Check HMRC guidance if unsure.
Can I use it on any ticket? No. Only paid, standard general-admission ticket types can qualify. Add-ons, merchandise, and free tickets are excluded.
Pricing and discounts
Why a minimum of 10%? HMRC's rule requires the donation version to cost at least 10% more than standard admission. Seaty enforces this so a sale cannot fall below the threshold.
Can a visitor use a discount code on a with-donation ticket? No. Discounts apply only to standard tickets. This keeps every gift-aided ticket at or above 110% of standard admission.
Claiming
How much can I claim? 25% of the total Gift Aided amount on each qualifying order, which is the whole with-donation payment plus any extra donation, but only where the visitor completed a declaration.
Does Seaty submit my claim? No. Seaty produces the report data and stores the declarations. You submit to HMRC and keep records for 6 years.
What happens if I refund a with-donation ticket? The report does not reduce the claim automatically. Adjust your HMRC claim manually for any refunded or cancelled with-donation tickets.