Giving shares pays dividends

Pen and magnifier on paperGive your stocks, shares or other investments to charity, and you could make your accountant happy too!

Gifts of this kind are exempt from Capital Gains Tax. And you could also be entitled to reduce your taxable income by the value of the gift.

What sort of investments qualify?

  • shares and securities listed or dealt on a recognised stock exchange – in the UK or elsewhere
  • UK Authorised Unit Trust Units
  • UK Open-ended investment company shares
  • certain foreign collective investment scheme holdings

Selling shares to us

Instead of donating the shares directly, you could sell them to us for an amount less than their market value – normally we pay up to 75% of the value of the shares. We then sell the shares, and the net proceeds, minus the amount we paid for them, are placed in a CAF Charity Account or a CAF Trust for you to give to your favourite charities. As long as the amount we pay for the shares doesn’t exceed their cost to you (for tax purposes), you will be exempt from Capital Gains Tax.

Other non-cash gifts

You can also give land, property or works of art to charity through us. We’ll sell these assets and put the proceeds into a CAF Charity Account or CAF Trust.

Discover the three ways we can help you to benefit charity through a gift of investments.


If you have a question about giving shares to charity, please complete our enquiry form, or call us on 03000 123 028.