Share giving
Our aim is stop MS. By donating your shares, you're helping us get there.
Thousands of people across the UK own shares they're not sure what to do with. They might have been left to you by a relative or given to you following a company privatisation or take over. Why not put them to good use by donating them to help everyone affected by MS?
Why should I donate shares to charity?
- You don't have to pay any capital gains tax for donated shares making it one of the most tax-effective ways to donate.
- You can claim income tax relief equal to the value of the donated shares according to your income tax rate (40% for higher rate taxpayers and 45% for highest rate taxpayers).
To qualify for tax relief, your shares or securities must be:
- listed or dealt on a recognised UK or foreign stock exchange
- units in authorised unit trusts
- shares in a UK open-ended investment company holdings in certain foreign collective investment schemes.
How to donate shares to charity
The process of selling shares is admin heavy and can be costly to charities. For this reason, we ask that you first consider selling the shares yourself, and then donating the received amount. To make sure you get the maximum tax relief, you'll need a paper trail of discussions with us before the sale is made, to show the sale is being done on our behalf. You can visit the HMRC website for full guidance.
To begin this conversation, or if you'd prefer to sell your shares directly to us, please contact Louisa Browne by email at [email protected].
Shares worth over £50,000
For large amounts of shares worth over £50,000, please ask your investment broker to get in touch with us directly to discuss the best way to transfer your gift.
For a small number of shares
If you have a small number of shares you'd like to donate, please use Share Gift, a charity that specialises in distributing shares amongst a number of charities. Please mention the MS Society when you make your donation.
