Christmas Special: The best of Martin’s Money Mastermind!

As it’s Christmas, Producer Matt has chosen his favourite questions Martin has challenged Adrian with on the podcast for this special Martin’s Money Mastermind episode, including questions on: returning faulty tech, gift aid, credit scores, retail gift aid, and direct debits. If you want to ask Martin a question, you now can! His Question Time podcast lets you ask Martin absolutely anything and everything (within reason!) – so if you’ve always wanted to know his favourite animal, if he knows any magic tricks, or have a very complicated question about your personal finances, email it to [email protected] mailto:[email protected].

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:06Speaker 01

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• 1:44Martin Lewis?

  Hello and welcome to the cunningly named The Martin Lewis Podcast. I do wonder what that's going to be about. And this is our festive special. Yes, it's a best of mastermind podcast where podcast producer Matt has picked out his favourite masterminds that I've challenged Adrian with since September. How the joys. Me asking a question, Adrian sitting there, looking bedazzled, confused and befuddled. Play the theme tune.

• 2:28Martin Lewis?

  I think at this point, Adrian, we all need something a little bit more relaxing and a little bit more chilling. Rosie and I certainly do, but maybe not for you. Can we play the theme tune, please?

• 2:43Speaker 04

  I want Rosie just to give me a...

• 2:45Martin Lewis?

  She is not allowed to... Rosie will know the answer. She is not allowed to help you. Rosie, I will poker face, please.

• 2:51Speaker 04

  I'm just looking at you, Rosie, listening to it.

• 2:55Martin Lewis?

  So the score, Adrian, the mastermind score, where I ask you questions rather than you ask me questions, is you currently have 11 right and 23 wrong in this three option multiple choice, which means it is now statistically likely that if we had written the options on three scraps of paper, placed them on the floor beneath a three-toed sloth, and each week picked whichever one it pooped on the most, that would be a more successful method of answering than you have been.

• 3:26Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 3:26Martin Lewis?

  You are now and have officially limboed below random chance. Random chance, you would have been 11...

• 3:32Speaker 04

  You've made...

• 3:33Martin Lewis?

  11 right, 22 wrong. So...

• 3:35Speaker 04

  It's nearly time for the news.

• 3:36Martin Lewis?

  In a shock, I'm throwing you a bone.

• 3:39Speaker 04

  All right.

• 3:40Martin Lewis?

  This week's question is one I have explained to you before in a very similar way to the way I ask it now. In fact, I have done the explanation, looking you in the eyes twice on the show. Yes, this is a sympathy question, everybody. Adrian, you should get this right. Does that add pressure?

• 4:03Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 4:03Martin Lewis?

  Good. So, no elaborate setup, no preamble, just the question. If you bought a high-tech smartphone, brand new, 18 months ago, and it's now failing...

• 4:17Martin Lewis?

  Through no fault of yours, you haven't damaged, you haven't misused it, it's now got a fault. How long are you protected whereby law they must repair it or replace it for free? Is it A, the warranty length, which we'll say in this case is one year? B, there's no fixed time, it's just what's reasonable? C, two years as the EU electrical law was incorporated into UK law post Brexit? So, it's a faulty phone, you haven't done anything wrong, you bought it 18 months ago. How long is your protection? The warranty length, which we'll call a year, it could be two years, but in this case I'll say it's one year. There's no fixed time, it's just what's reasonable, or two years as the EU electrical law was incorporated into UK law post Brexit?

• 5:04Speaker 04

  I think, well, I think I remember when you told me, you boiled it down very kindly to me and using the example of a tin whistle. If I bought a tin whistle for a quid and it conked out after a year.

• 5:20Martin Lewis?

  Yep.

• 5:21Speaker 04

  That was not unreasonable. But if this is a high-tech smartphone, and you said high-tech, you made that point. Not any old smartphone, and 18 months, through no fault of my own, you said. So I would say that is unreasonable. It is not a reasonable length of time, so I'm going for B.

• 5:45Martin Lewis?

  You're saying there's no fixed time, it's just what's reasonable. I had a big bone, been chewed by a dog. I tossed it up in the air, it span around a few times. You put your hands out in that correct cricket catch to see if you could catch it.

• 5:59Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 6:00Martin Lewis?

  It fell down, you pushed your hands together over the bone, did it slip out? No, play Hallelujah.

• 6:11Martin Lewis?

  That's friendship. I gave you an easy one. So just to explain it to everybody who is listening. Yeah, look, it's really important to understand there are consumer rights laws when you buy something that say goods must be of satisfactory quality as described, fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time. Those are your legal rights. If you take them back within a month if it's faulty, you're entitled to a full refund. If you take it back after that, you're entitled to a repair or partial refund or a replacement. There is no time limit though. Reasonable time, exactly as Adrian beautifully explained, and it was a tin whistle. It's actually a plastic whistle, but I'm gonna let you have the tin whistle, but it was a pretty good memory, is the way that I tend to explain it. So it is what a reasonable person would say is reasonable. And

• 6:55Speaker 04

  Well, there's just a grey area.

• 6:57Martin Lewis?

  It is. And ultimately, it's a judge who would decide it. But what we do is, and I've done before, where I've got juries of people, just as an example, and said, okay, I've got 10 people here. How would, what would you say is reasonable? And we'd go in here, and I think we would all say that a whistle breaking after 18 months, if it costs 50p or a quid, wow, that's pretty reasonable. It's not fair. But if I've spent two grand on a smartphone, and through no fault of my known, it's not working after 18 months, well, that is perfectly reasonable. Now, what happens, and the reason I do this question, and the mischief I'm looking to solve in this question, is I cannot tell you how many people go to high-tech shops, where the retailer and the manufacturer are the same. So I'm talking Apple and Samsung, for example, to be honest. And they go in, and their phone's broken after 18 months, and they take it in, and they say, sorry,

• 7:41Martin Lewis?

  you're out of warranty.

• 7:42Speaker 04

  I never bought the extra warranty.

• 7:44Martin Lewis?

  Well, it doesn't matter. They say you're out of warranty. And, and my answer is warranty schmorienty, because the warranty is a contractual obligation that you were given by the manufacturer. Absolutely fine. It's nice to have, and it's good. But you have legal rights with the retailer. Now, in this case, the retail, if it's Apple, Apple is a retailer and a manufacturer. They're answering you as a manufacturer. You're going into the shop, you're asking them as a retailer. Under the retail rights law, the sad fart rule, satisfactory quality as described, fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time, you have retail rights. And you're saying, I don't care about your warranty. You do it politely and nicely. It's not the customer service people's fault. You're saying, under the law, this this item must last a reasonable length of time. It has not lasted a reasonable length of time. Therefore, you are responsible for repair or replacement.

• 8:29Martin Lewis?

  Now, if you push that and you understand that the warranty is irrelevant, because I'm asking you as a retailer and your rights, your legal rights are always with the shop you bought, the place that you have the contract from, then you need to enforce it. And that is, I mean, we should teach this in schools. You buy something, your rights with the retailer. If items are faulty and you take them back, then they have, they have to give you a full refund within 30 days or repair or replace afterwards. Of course, it's a grey area. I mean, let's say we've got a jury of you and Rosie here. My smartphone breaks after four and a half years. It costs two grand. Is that reasonable?

• 9:02Speaker 04

  I mean, the amount of yakking you do, I'd be amazed if it lasted that long. I wouldn't give you your money back.

• 9:07Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so so you see, that of my jury of two.

• 9:10Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 9:11Martin Lewis?

  You're both saying that's unreasonable. So, you know, one and a half years, you're saying is reasonable, four and a half years. Now, if I went up every month, at what point do we stop?

• 9:24Martin Lewis?

  Welcome to My Money Mastermind. Now, Adrian, in our three option multiple choice, got it right last week, which means he has scored 14 correct and 26 wrong. Which means, Adrian, I'm delighted to tell you, you are BRC.

• 9:44Martin Lewis?

  There you are. So, last week, you were NBRC, no better than random chance. This week, you are one ahead of random chance. 13 out of 13 right, 26 wrong would have been random chance. You've got 14 right and 26 wrong.

• 9:58Speaker 04

  All this means is that you'll give me an extra hard one to just to knock me off my perch.

• 10:03Martin Lewis?

  But what I think you should be excited by is of the 40 questions we've asked, one of the 40 is your added value. Thank you so much for that.

• 10:13Speaker 04

  Very good.

• 10:14Martin Lewis?

  Adrian, you're at home on a Monday afternoon doing your favourite things. Alphabetising your coffee bean collection and complaining about modern life. A bit of self-examination means you decide enough is enough. You need to get out of there, get fit, get healthy, get well and join a gym. On the spur of the moment, you call up your local fitness centre, negotiate a great deal. Well done, mate. And it asks you for your debit card details, the longer number, to set up the payment. What I would like to know is which of these is the correct legal position you are now in? Is it A, as it's a card you use to do it, it's a recurring payment with little protection?

• 10:55Speaker 04

  I used a credit card, didn't I?

• 10:57Martin Lewis?

  No, you used your debit card.

• 10:58Speaker 04

  Debit card, right.

• 11:00Martin Lewis?

  B, as it's your bank debit card you used, you're covered by the powerful direct debit guarantee. C, as it's your bank debit card you used, you're covered by the powerful direct debit guarantee, but only if you sign the direct debit guarantee document they send to you afterwards. So is it A, it's just a recurring payment with little protection? B, you're covered as a direct debit because you used your debit card? Or C, you're covered as a direct debit because you used your debit card, but only if you sign the direct debit guarantee form they send you?

• 11:37Martin Lewis?

  What's your thinking?

• 11:38Speaker 04

  I think, well, I don't think you're covered. I think, well, it's a recurring payment on a debit card is not the same as a direct debit agreement. I think, is this?

• 11:58Martin Lewis?

  So you're saying A, as it's the card you use to do it, it's a recurring payment with little protection?

• 12:04Speaker 04

  Well, yes, except I think that's true, although if then you by some rule have to sign a direct debit agreement, that might elevate it to being a de facto direct debit.

• 12:19Martin Lewis?

  So you're thinking it's C, as it's your bank debit card you use, you're covered by the powerful direct debit guarantee, but only if you sign the direct debit guarantee document they send you afterwards?

• 12:27Speaker 04

  It's a hell of a red herring you've put in if, I mean, it's a hell of a direct debit you put in if that's not true. I mean, do they?

• 12:36Martin Lewis?

  I can't answer your questions because that would give the answer away.

• 12:40Speaker 04

  Well, you might be able to. I mean, do they have to send you the direct debit agreement?

• 12:43Martin Lewis?

  Is your answer A, it's a recurring payment, B, it's a direct debit, or C, it's a direct debit only if they send you the direct debit agreement and you sign it?

• 12:53Speaker 04

  I think it's C.

• 12:55Martin Lewis?

  Final answer.

• 12:56Speaker 04

  Final answer.

• 12:57Martin Lewis?

  So Adrian, first of all, let's say the fact that you are using your debit card does not automatically mean you are covered as a direct debit guarantee.

• 13:11Speaker 04

  No.

• 13:12Martin Lewis?

  Adrian, if you so used your debit card and you're covered by the powerful direct debit guarantee and they send you the direct debit guarantee document, then it would be completely weird because I made that option up. Please.

• 13:28Speaker 04

  Well, that's the reddest of red hair. I don't think that's cricket. I don't think that's cricket. I'm sending that up to the third on by, I mean, that's...

• 13:39Martin Lewis?

  I did look at it and I think what I've done is I've put two options that are very similar that are both wrong and that will make you think that one of those two must be right. And it worked because the correct answer is it's a recurring payment with little protection. And this is actually really important for people to understand. Adrian, you've now got 14, 14 right and 27 wrong. You're still BRC though, just.

• 14:01Speaker 04

  Yeah, but our relationship has taken a hit then.

• 14:04Martin Lewis?

  So sorry about that. Now, let's just talk about the direct debit guarantee. This is covered by the direct debit scheme rules. These are powerful protections legally enforceable back by the banking industry. That applies when you set up a direct debit. The way you set up a direct debit is from your bank account. So you would give your bank account number and the sort code. The crucial bit in this question is that you gave your long card number. And in which case it doesn't matter whether it's a debit card or a credit card. If it's a payment from the card as opposed to a payment with the bank account number, then it is a recurring payments and you have far fewer rights on a recurring payment. This is commonly used for subscriptions, you know, Netflix, Disney plus.

• 14:48Martin Lewis?

  But people don't realise, in fact, what a recurring payment really is, is if you think about it, when you go into a shop, you give them your card, you say, take one payment. What you're actually saying to the firm is, I'm giving you my card details so you can take a payment when you want to take a payment. And each one of those payments is an individual payment, it just recurs. With the direct debit guarantee, it's actually far stronger, it's a specific thing. So if you want to cancel your direct debit guarantee, you just need to contact your bank and they must stop all future payments. If you dispute it because you say it's taken in error, it was taken on the wrong date, it's the wrong amount, it's taken without authority. With the direct debit, you must get an immediate refund from your bank, even before they go into the dispute process. So it's very powerful.

• 15:31Martin Lewis?

  With a recurring payment, while you should be able to stop it by going to your bank, I get lots of reports that sometimes that does not happen. And they say you have to go to the payment provider. Disputing it is far more difficult, it's not instant, it can be declined, it depends on the card scheme rules, not a statutory guarantee. With a direct debit, you switch bank, it's moved automatically for you. With a recurring payment, you will have to move it yourself. So it is always worth being aware, if you are making a payment and they're asking you for the card details, not your bank account details, you have far, far fewer protections than you do if you're paying with an actual direct debit.

• 16:12Speaker 04

  Got it, and I thank you very much. And I'll call you later to discuss the ethics of what you've just done to me.

• 16:19Martin Lewis?

  The people, please feel free to get in touch and say, if a three option, multiple choice mastermind, one of the options is correct, what is ethically wrong by having two false options in it? Which is all I did, that's the definition, only one can be correct, Adrian.

• 16:32Speaker 04

  That is true, but you threw a red herring in because... You know, you said, you know, it wouldn't make any difference if you signed, didn't, if you, whether or not you signed a direct debit agreement, which you're not going to get sent anyway.

• 16:44Martin Lewis?

  Well, you're not going to be sent one because it wasn't a direct debit, it was a recurring payment, so you'd never be sent one, of course.

• 16:48Speaker 04

  Okay, all right, okay, I've got it, love you really.

• 16:51Martin Lewis?

  Love you, buddy.

• 16:52Speaker 04

  May your cold last, may your lurgy last 48 hours longer.

• 17:02Martin Lewis?

  Hello, welcome to Martin's Money Mastermind, where I put a three option, multiple choice to Adrian. The current score is Adrian has got 13 right.

• 17:10Speaker 04

  Just another.

• 17:11Martin Lewis?

  And 26 wrong.

• 17:14Speaker 04

  Right.

• 17:15Martin Lewis?

  Which means, Adrian, I have a new sting for you, which means, Adrian, here you go.

• 17:22Martin Lewis?

  That's you, Adrian, no better than random chance. That's our new sting, whenever you're in this position, that you are now no better than random chance. You want to do that, tell us desperately, don't you? Go on.

• 17:33Speaker 04

  Sharon got a packet of crisps, which just contained one large potato. I received a ledge of apology and a box of 32 packets as a good world gesture.

• 17:45Speaker 04

  Brilliant, Sharon.

• 17:46Martin Lewis?

  Lovely, all right, let's go with the mastermind, all right. So here you go, I'm walking around my house and I see a set of books lying around, mostly in pristine condition, as no one has ever bothered to read them. There's one called The Good Drinker, How I Learned to Love Drinking Less, which is a sobering title. There's one called We Don't Know What We're Doing, which could have been written about this show. And finally, there's another one by the same author called The Curious Columns of Adrian Childs, which was disappointing, as there was neither a Doric nor an Ionic insight. Anyway, that's a little classical joke there, I was pleased with that one. Anyway, I decided to do some good and donate them to the local lost causes charity shop, it felt appropriate.

• 18:28Martin Lewis?

  The shopkeeper smiled with his crinkly eyes and said, "It's funny, I've never seen a copy of any of those books that hasn't been pristine." Luckily...

• 18:37Speaker 04

  Oh, can you... Stop, Blah. How much more stick do you want to give it? Go on.

• 18:42Martin Lewis?

  Luckily, he accepts them anyway and has me to sign up at that point to the retail gift aid scheme, which last time we talked about charity, you mentioned, so I'm actually giving, so I know you know about it. So I'm giving you a question now.

• 18:54Speaker 04

  Well, I've signed it. I don't, I wouldn't say I knew about it.

• 18:56Martin Lewis?

  Now, normal gift aid, as you know, allows a charity to claim back the basic rate tax someone has paid on a donation. But when you're giving a product like books, not cash, what is the claim based on? Is it A, the estimated price you, the donator, paid for the book? B, charities are expected to calculate a fair valuation and claim based on that? Or C, the eventual price the charity sells the book for?

• 19:24Martin Lewis?

  So is it the price you paid, the price they estimate they'll get, or the actual price they get only after sale?

• 19:32Speaker 04

  Ah, I think it's got to be after sale, so I'll go C.

• 19:35Martin Lewis?

  Final answer?

• 19:36Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 19:37Martin Lewis?

  Play the hallelujah.

• 19:44Speaker 04

  Does that mean I lose that random chance thing?

• 19:46Martin Lewis?

  You, you mean you're off random chance until you go back to it? You've got, you can now go get, can get two wrong before you go back. Okay. So look, this is actually quite important to understand. The retail gift aid only kicks in when the charity actually sells your donated item, which means in the case of these books, there may never be any gift aid on the back of it. Now, in a way, you need to think that the charity is acting as your agent to sell the goods. And then when it does, it can claim gift aid of 25p per pound that you donated. And it will generally notify you at that point, which this is what people have to understand. The reason it'll notify you at that point is you can only claim gift aid if you've actually paid that amount of tax. So if it's in future, it could even be in a future tax year and you hadn't paid tax that year

• 20:29Martin Lewis?

  and someone claims gift aid on your behalf, you would actually have to pay that extra gift aid in terms of tax, which is why there's sort of a slot in this system that when you give a product, you might have to wait for notification of what it earned and then recheck that you gave the gift aid and you could then opt out at that point of the gift aid that came through, if that makes sense. But now you, you sparked that question by mentioning it when we talked about it. So I did a little bit of research on it. I thought that was quite interesting. And now the score is 13, 14 right, 26 wrong, Adrian.

• 21:05Martin Lewis?

  Now, in our Money Mastermind, the current score is Adrian has got 13 wrong, and 13 right and 25 wrong. You got the last one straight wrong and you are sniffling ever closer to not beating random chance, N B R C.

• 21:21Speaker 04

  Very sweetly, you know, I turn over to a fresh page in my notebook. It makes no difference whatsoever. There's, if I write anything down, it'll just be wrong anyway, but I'll just do it.

• 21:32Martin Lewis?

  And can I just make just a slight point here? I always talk about random chance, you'll hear it's 13 to 25. And there is someone who regularly writes in to say that I have this wrong because random chance would mean only getting a third right, not 50% right. I have to say my maths here is right. If you have got 13, you've got 13 right and 25 wrong. Yes, while 13 is around 50, just under 50% of 25, of the total, which is 38 questions, 13 is just over a third. The maths is right. It's one in three, you're getting just over one, it's one in, is one in three, which means you would get one right and two wrong every three questions.

• 22:12Speaker 04

  I'm not having anybody telling you you're wrong, even if you are, which you never are.

• 22:15Martin Lewis?

  I'm 100% right on this probability.

• 22:16Speaker 04

  Okay, right.

• 22:17Martin Lewis?

  Okay. So now Adrian, the question. Adrian, often I do my impression of you with a Westminster accent. Today, Adrian, you get a chance to do an impression of me.

• 22:27Speaker 04

  Right.

• 22:27Martin Lewis?

  Because this question is one I was asked by a caller called Matt on the Question Time podcast, which you are not involved in, that we also put out and goes out on a Monday and you should subscribe, a fortnight ago. So I'm going to ask you exactly the question I was asked and see how you do. Except you get three multiple choice options.

• 22:47Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 22:48Martin Lewis?

  "I was told by a dad on the school run, a tip to add my eight-year-old daughter to my credit card as a cardholder to help start build her credit score to get credit of her own. Does it work? Which of these was my answer?" Which is also the correct answer.

• 23:05Speaker 04

  Oh, naturally.

• 23:06Martin Lewis?

  A, yes, it will start to go on a foul and be a useful builder for when she's 18 and able to help her get credit. B, no, it doesn't work. C, no, it doesn't work because she's under 18. If she was over 18, it would work.

• 23:22Speaker 04

  I think it is C on the assumption that, I mean, what you do at the age of eight surely can't, can't be held against you or even for you on your credit record. So I'll go, I'll go C.

• 23:39Martin Lewis?

  Final answer?

• 23:40Speaker 04

  Hmm?

• 23:42Martin Lewis?

  Play the uh-uh.

• 23:43Speaker 04

  Oh, not again.

• 23:44Martin Lewis?

  Adrian, I'm so disappointed. You're actually slightly angry here. About, about three minutes ago, we had a conversation where you mistakenly said that you can't have a joint current account. And I said, no, you're thinking of a credit card. You can't have a joint credit card. You can only have a second card holder. It isn't joint. And, and I was just, as I was asking that question, in my head, I'm going, oh, shoot, I've just given the answer away three minutes ago.

• 24:13Speaker 04

  You, you made the mistake.

• 24:14Martin Lewis?

  This is a default now, and you still got it wrong.

• 24:17Speaker 04

  You know, I quite enjoy being berated by you. I find, I don't know, I find it comforting. It takes me back to school and relationships. So just carry on, berate me a bit more. We've got another hour.

• 24:29Martin Lewis?

  No, no, I need to get, I need to explain. Look, so to everybody listening, although most of you will have got it because you were probably listening to the programme.

• 24:37Martin Lewis?

  The answer is you can't have a joint credit card. Now, the fact is no under 18. You're not going to get a credit file anyway because you can't have credit products. But you can't have a joint credit card. All that you can do is you can give someone else your card and they're spending on your account. It doesn't count as their card. It's not their card. It's not their credit. If they spend loads and don't pay it, it's still your debt.

• 24:55Speaker 04

  If it was a joint bank account then?

• 24:57Martin Lewis?

  Well, on a joint, on a joint bank account, yes, if it had an overdraft, still because there's no credit products under 18, it would be a struggle to get the overdraft and to work it in that particular way. But theoretically, you would be getting closer if we did it that way. But on a credit card system, the answer is a blunt no. It doesn't work. No way, no how. And it wouldn't work if she were 104 either because it's just a second card holder. So I'm afraid it was dad's on the schoolroom. Is Adrian Childs on your schoolroom, Matt? Because, you know, I was told by dad on the schoolroom, a tip to have my eight-year-old daughter. That tip does not work at all. A bit like Adrian does not work at all on the mastermind.

• 25:35Speaker 04

  All right, okay.

• 25:36Martin Lewis?

  But he's still AC, the coolest man on the radio.

• 25:39Speaker 04

  If only that were true. I apologise to you for not listening. I apologise for getting it wrong.

• 25:44Martin Lewis?

  I'm not doing anything, mate.

• 25:45Speaker 04

  I apologise to myself for revealing what a chump I am, AC or not. But always a pleasure, Martin.

• 25:51Martin Lewis?

  Thank you, thank you, mate.

• 25:52Speaker 04

  A dark pleasure, admittedly. A masochistic pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless.

• 26:02Martin Lewis?

  Welcome to My Money Mastermind, where I put Adrian under the cosh and test his financial knowledge. Now, he got the last one right, which means you have snuck above random chance, Adrian. In this three option multiple choice quiz, you have got 13 right and 24 wrong. So you could now get two more wrong before you hit random chance again. I should ko-ko. Well done, my friend.

• 26:27Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 26:28Martin Lewis?

  You're beating, you're beating a drop of snot on a piece of paper to pick the answers.

• 26:33Speaker 04

  Right.

• 26:34Martin Lewis?

  Adrian, you've been invited to be the keynote speaker at Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club's annual charity gala.

• 26:42Speaker 04

  Unlikely.

• 26:43Martin Lewis?

  Raising money for sick children, vulnerable elderly people and small, ill puppies. Cunningly, they know as a West Brom fan, this puts you in an awkward position. After all, it's wolves. Ugh. But it's cute, ickle, pickle, sick puppies. Ah. And they sent pictures of the puppies. Ooh. Now, the invite also includes a prominent note on how to donate. So you, seeing a solution here, hastily write back saying, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I'm not available, but I will make a generous donation as a way out. Good solution. Well done, mate. The form, of course, includes gift aid notification. You're a UK taxpayer. So what I want to know

• 27:27Martin Lewis?

  is, if a higher 40% rate taxpayer makes a donation to charity and correctly fills in the gift aid form, what happens? A, the charity can claim all the 40% on their donation. B, the charity can claim 20% on their donation and that's it. C, the charity can claim 20% on their donation and the taxpayer can claim back 20% too. So this is a higher 40% rate taxpayer making a gift aid donation. Can the charity claim all the 40%? Can the charity only claim 20%?

• 28:08Martin Lewis?

  Or can the charity claim 20% and the taxpayer claim the other 20%? Do you understand?

• 28:16Speaker 04

  Well, yeah, I do. And if it's C, then being a very generous man who often gives to charities and fills out the gift aid, then I must be able to claim money. So I don't think it's C. I can't remember whether they can claim all the higher tax or the difference in higher tax. And I reckon, I reckon they can claim all the tax, all the 40%. I think it's A.

• 28:48Martin Lewis?

  So?

• 28:49Speaker 04

  Because when they ask you, will you, before they ask you to sign with your gift aid thingy, they always say, are you a UK taxpayer? They don't say, are you a UK higher rate taxpayer, which might be indicative. Anyway, I'm going to go for A.

• 29:05Martin Lewis?

  Adrian, the charity cannot claim all the 40% donation. Uh-uh, please. You just gave away the answer, but you didn't think of it. What do they ask you?

• 29:14Speaker 04

  Are you a UK taxpayer?

• 29:16Martin Lewis?

  They don't ask whether you're a higher rate taxpayer because they can only claim back 20%. So all they need to know is, are you a UK taxpayer? Of which the, have you paid 20%?

• 29:25Speaker 04

  I was thinking of it the wrong way around. I thought that-

• 29:27Martin Lewis?

  But interestingly, you can claim the extra 20% back. So when you are a higher rate taxpayer, they get 20%. And if you've made a gift aid donation, you can claim the other amount of tax back through your self-assessment tax return. So you should have been giving your gift aid donations to whoever does your tax form for you, if you don't do it yourself, and you should be claiming back that amount. Now, as I strongly support charities, arguably therefore, if you are happy to donate £100 of your money as a higher rate taxpayer, donate £133, then the charity gets £166. You can reclaim £33 and it only costs you £100. Only if you are earning that much above the 40% limit, though.

• 30:12Martin Lewis?

  So you can actually give even more as a higher rate taxpayer if you want to give it all to the charity, because you can reclaim some tax on it. So just on that gift aid thing, I wanted to explain in a little more detail. I did it very quickly when I was in the live show. The key is, in order to reclaim the tax at the higher rate, you have to have paid that much tax at the higher rate. So just so I can set that out for you. Let's say for easy numbers, you've donated £100 and therefore there's £20 being reclaimed by the charity and you can reclaim £20 of tax yourself. If you were only £10 over the higher rate tax threshold, you couldn't reclaim £20. You could only reclaim £10 at the higher rate because you can only reclaim at the higher rate if you've paid that amount of tax.

• 30:56Martin Lewis?

  Shouldn't be an issue for most people, but occasionally people do get in touch with me and ask me about that one. So just being really tight on that. But generally, it does mean if you're a higher rate taxpayer, you can actually get away with giving more than you thought you would to charity because you can then reclaim some of it back. I mean, of course, the other way is you could give what you wanted and you could have it in your coffers. But hey, I'm doing my best for the third sector.

• 31:17Martin Lewis?

  And that is it for this Best of Mastermind episode. Don't forget to subscribe so you know when we release a new episode. In normal times, not this weird winter festive schedule, we put out a new podcast every Thursday and our Question Time podcast each Monday. Two doses of money-saving tips and tricks a week. What could be better? Merry Christmas. Ho, ho, ho.

• 31:55Speaker 05

  Martin Lewis is the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com. But of course, other consumer and price comparison websites are available. You can get in touch with Martin's podcast production team by emailing [email protected]. The offers and rates mentioned in the podcast are correct at the time of recording. However, if you are listening on demand, it's worth double checking as details can date. Remember to subscribe on BBC Sounds and leave us a review however you listen.

• 32:31Speaker 02

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• 33:16Speaker 02

  building a financial model, or strategising your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at claude.ai/solve. That's claude.ai/solve. And check out Claude Pro, which includes access to all of the features mentioned in today's episode. claude.ai/solve.

• 33:40Speaker 06

  In Our Time is a world-class seminar every week. Why was Jeremy a lonely snail? What were lines doing in York in the third century? I'm Misha Glennie, and every week I'm joined by expert guests to explore the ideas that shape our world.

• 33:55Speaker 07

  It's one of the first times, really, that you consistently see someone painting teeth. I know that sounds bonkers. If I was going to define mathematics, I would say it's the study of structure.

• 34:03Speaker 06

  In Our Time, listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Tea or coffee?

• 34:10Speaker 04

  Love a cup of tea.