More information about the Freedom Account
The Freedom Account is an individual's own personal charity account, which provides flexibility in donating to charity, giving freedom to make donations at anytime the account holder wants to and to any UK registered charity or recognised good cause. It is designed for people who have a busy lifestyle and wish to have greater flexibility when giving to good causes, whilst making sure donations are given in a tax-efficient way. For more information on how the account works click here on this page.
A Freedom Account is an individuals own personal charity account, giving more flexibility when donating to charities or good causes. The account allows you to leave donations to build up, which allow the account holder to make donations at anytime.
The account provides access to all 170'000 UK and 35'000 Scottish registered charities including annual, emergency or local charity appeals. The account gives freedom to donate on a regular monthly basis via standing orders to specific charities while the remainder of the monies remain in the account account.
Please note that donations out of the Freedom Account can only be made to UK registered charities and recognised good causes and can not be used to buy goods and services from charities.
The Freedom Account is also a tax efficient way to manage charity donations. Payroll Giving donations from pay can be paid into the account, so if you are a 40% tax payer a donation of t £10.00 acutally costs you £6.00, however your account will be remitted £10.00 less Payroll Giving Administration . If you donate to a Freedom Account out via Cheque/Debit/Credit Card these are Post Tax doantions and Charities Trust will claim the Gift Aid and add it to the account.
A Freedom Account provides both a charity cheque book and the ability to make donations online via the Charities Trust website.
What are the next steps?
1. To open a Freedom Account online click on the the register online button which is to the right of the screen or click here
2. Once you have registered an e-mail containing a randomly generated password will be sent to you along with a user-name. (The email will be sent to the email address you supply in step 1.)
3. On receipt of the password and username return to www.myfreedomaccount.org and log in with your user name and password on the right hand side of the home page.
4. You will now be on your Member Homepage. Look for the Freedom Account section in the menu on the left hand side and click Create/Activate Account
5. You will then see 3 boxes under the heading “Import your Freedom Account details”. Enter the security details and click Restore Freedom Account. You can now manage your account online including changing the log in password.
6. If you experience any problems with you online account then please contact email info@myfreedomacccount.org .
Donations out of your Freedom Account
1 Secure online donations are quicker and hassle free for you and your nominated charity or good cause, visit: www.myfreedomaccount.org and log in using your user name and password.
2 Charity Cheques can be written and sent to a charity or good cause of your choice.
3 Regular donations can be set up to as many charities or good causes as you wish; the remainder of the balance is then available for one off appeals. You can access this option online, email info@myfreedomaccount.org or write to Charities Trust to confirm the details.
Ways to deposit money into your Freedom Account
1 Payroll Giving – all donations are tax effective. Every £1 you donate direct from your pay costs you 78p (basic rate tax payer) or 60p (higher rate tax payer).
2 Cheques should be made payable to Charities Trust. Please write your personal GP Account No* on the reverse of your cheque and post this to Charities Trust
3 Standing Order from your personal bank account to your Freedom Account. Contact Charities Trust on info@myfreedomaccount.org, or phone 0151 286 5129 to request a standing order form
4 Credit/Debit cards - online secure transactions can be made via www.myfreedomaccount.org. Alternatively, refer to your charity cheque book as it includes a slip for Credit/Debit card transactions which can be completed and returned to Charities Trust
5 Online bank transfer can be set up from your bank account – you will need to quote Charities Trust as the beneficiary with the sort code 205101 account number 90160733 and your personal GP Account No* as the reference
6 If you complete a Gift Aid declaration Charities Trust will claim Gift Aid on post tax payments into your account. Please allow up 48 days for transfer of Gift Aid funds to your account balance as Charities Trust can only claim Gift Aid from HMRC once a month and it normally takes 4 – 6 weeks for the funds to be paid.
*Your personal Freedom Account number (GP Account No), can be found on the inside cover of your Charity Cheque book or when you access your account online. If you are unsure of your GP No email Charities Trust at info@myfreedomaccount.org and your GP No will be forwarded to you.
Statements
If you are a 40% tax rate payer, the Freedom Account is the ideal solution, as it provides all the evidence required for making a claim on monies given to charity against your annual tax return.
1 Quarterly statements are emailed direct to you, or a hard copy can be posted to your home address
2 Your balance can be checked at anytime, visit www.myfreedomaccount.org, log into your account to access this information
Charities Trust Charges **
As a charity, Charities Trust provides these services at minimal cost, a small administration charge is taken per donation into the account to cover operating costs:
Payments into your account (per transaction);
• Payroll giving 25p *
• Bank transfers into your account – 25p
• Debit/Credit card transactions – 4% (inclusive of all bank processing charges)
• Standing order – 25p
• Cheque deposit – 25p
• Gift Aid claims – 4%
Donations out of the account
• Free of charge both to the donor and to the charity
Also covered by the admin fee:
• Donations out of the account – free
• Charity cheque book – free (If you would like a personalised Charity Cheque Book please click here)
• Quarterly statements – free
• Online access – free
* If your donation is received through Payroll Giving, your employer may wish to pay the Charities Trust administration charge on your behalf. If your company does not provide Payroll Giving or does not pay the administration, please forward Charities Trust Tel No. 0151 286 5129 to the relevant person, and one of our representatives will be happy to talk through the advantages of setting up Payroll Giving and the benefits of paying the administration on behalf of employees.
** Charities Trust reserve the right to review and alter the charges but would notify you if the charges were to increase.
FAQ’s
Is there a minimum donation?
The minimum monthly donation via payroll giving to a Freedom Account is £10 (or £2.50 per week). However this will only cost you £8.00 (or £6 if you are a higher rate tax payer)
Can a charity claim Gift Aid on my Freedom Account donation?
No - If your donation is taken from source, which means direct from your salary before income tax is levied, your donation will have already received all of the available tax relief with no further tax recoverable on the donation. However, if you make additional donations from your post tax income, Charities Trust will claim back the Gift Aid. A small administration charge is made against the 28% Gift Aid claim *Gift Aid 28% until April 2011. Once the claim has gone through the additional monies will be transferred to your account – this usually takes 6 – 8 weeks.
What happens if I write a Freedom Account charity cheque for more than the funds available in my account?
Charities Trust can only make payments to charities where there are sufficient funds in your Freedom Account so we ask you not do to this. But if it does happen the charity cheque will be held until there are funds available to make the payment though we cannot guarantee that held over charity cheques will be redeemed in the order they were written by you.
I have seen charities ask for donations by CAF vouchers - is this the same as Charities Trust charity cheques?
There are a number of Payroll Giving Agencies. CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) is one of them. They offer a Charity Account facility which is similar. Charity cheques (or vouchers) from any Payroll Giving Agency can be used to make donations to any UK registered charity or recognised good cause.
Can I put completed charity cheques into charity collection tins and envelopes?
Yes – the charity will forward the cheque to Charities Trust who will forward the donation out of your Freedom Account to the charity.
How quickly will the charity receive my donation?
Donations are passed on to charities at the end of each month. Payments by BACS are transferred in order to reach the charity’s bank account on the last working day of the month. Cheque payments are sent out at the end of the month.
What if I am experiencing difficulties with my online Freedom Account?
E mail us at info@myfreedomaccount.org.with as much detail email
