The good news is, you can! There are numerous ways to earn extra cash and gift cards from the comfort of your home, at a time that suits you. Here’s how you can lighten the load on your wallet this holiday season.
1. Cashback Apps: Get Paid to Shop
One of the easiest ways to make tax-free cash is through cashback apps like TopCashback, Quidco and OhMyDosh. These apps offer a percentage of your spending back when you shop through their platforms.
- OhMyDosh: This is the UK's fastest-paying cashback reward site. Enjoy effortless earnings and endless rewards by completing paid surveys, competitions, offers, free trials, and much more. On top of that you'll get a £2 welcome bonus just for joining. You can earn an easy £10 in just 20 minutes. Get paid in 3-5 days via BACS or Paypal. Click here to join for free today!
- TopCashback: Simply sign up and start shopping through the app or website at your favourite retailers like ASOS, Boohoo, M&S, George & so many more. You’ll earn cashback in the form of cash into your bank or get even extra money back by redeeming your cashback in the form of gift cards to increase your reward. This isn’t considered taxable income since it’s viewed as a rebate. Click here to sign up free!
- Quidco: Dosh links directly to your debit or credit card and automatically gives you cashback when you shop at participating stores. Click here to sign up free!
These cashback programs act like rebates, so they won’t count as income and won't need to be reported on your taxes.
2. Survey Sites: Share Your Opinion for Free Gift Cards
This is one of our favourite ways to
There are tons of websites that reward you with gift cards just for sharing your opinion. Sites like PaidSurveys, SurveySpotter and BrandedSurveys allow you to turn your opinions and feedback into money. These points can then be redeemed for gift cards from popular stores such as Amazon, Asda or even as PayPal cash.
- PaidSurveys: Earm up to £400 a month, tax-free, when it suits you. Paid Surveys UK brings you all the best online surveys in one place! Helping you maximise your earning potential with no commitment needed. Click here to register free today!
- Branded Surveys: Join over 2 million happy members getting paid in cash or gift cards for answering online surveys. You'll be helping big companies develop their products and services. Plus you'll get a 100 bonus points when you start. Start earning now - it's free!
- SurveySpotter: Similar to Paid Surveys, SurveySpotter finds you online surveys that will pay you between £5-25 per survey. This means you could start turning your spare time on the sofa into £300 a month. Register for free today!
These platforms don’t count as taxable income because they are considered as "gifts" or incentives for participating in surveys.
3. Sign-Up Bonuses: Free Money for Trying New Services
Many companies offer sign-up bonuses as a way to attract new customers. By taking advantage of these deals, you can pocket some extra cash with little effort. For example:
- Bank sign-up bonuses: Some banks offer cash bonuses (often £100 or more) when you open a new checking account and meet a few basic requirements, like setting up direct deposit.
- Cashback credit cards: These are a great way to earn a % back on purchases or bills, they're usually collected either monthly or annually. You can then choose which account to pay the rewards in, so this could be to pay off a credit card bill, into your normal current account or you could redeem as gift cards.
- The Amazon Barclaycard offers you a £20 Amazon gift card on acceptance, then you earn 1% on Amazon purchases and 0.5% on all other purchases. Apply today! *28.9% rep APR
- Investment apps: Platforms like FreeTrade or Hargreaves Lansdown often offer free stock just for signing up, and you can later sell the stock for cash.
- Hargreaves Lansdown Stocks and Shares ISA allows you to invest free from UK tax. You can also withdraw your money whenever you need it. Open an ISA today
- FreeTrade is a stock trading and investment app that's been awarded the best online trading app 3 years in a row now. It costs £4.99 to open an account however the potential rewards you could earn through investing is much higher. Open a FreeTrade ISA today!
Just make sure to meet all the requirements to avoid missing out on the bonuses. These bonuses, considered promotional offers, often aren’t taxable. With investing there is always capital at risk.
4. Reward Programs: Points for Completing Offers & Deals
- FreeCash: Earn up to £250 for a single task, such as playing games, watching Netflix, taking out offers and so much more. With over 2000 tasks to choose from, there's no limit to the amount you can earn each month! Click here to claim your free £5 when you sign up today!
- Cashback.co.uk: Earn money by completing offers, entering competitions, taking part in free trials and answering surveys. With an average member earning just over £150, why not try it for yourself? Join free and claim your £5 welcome bonus!
- Rewards Giant: Earn gift cards for loads of different brands by completing offers or deals on levels, the more levels you complete the higher your gift card reward will be. They've already given out over £4 million in rewards. Click here to start earning yourself an £100 Sainburys gift card to help with that hefty Christmas food shop.
5. Receipt-Scanning Apps: Turn Your Receipts into Rewards
You can also earn money simply by scanning your receipts using apps like Nielsen Homescan. These apps reward you with points for every receipt you upload, which you can then trade in for gift cards.
Since these rewards are treated as rebates or promotional offers, they’re not taxable.
6. Gift Card Giveaways and Competitions
FreeClub.co.uk offers you loads of ways to win FREE gift cards and prizes which could be used for regifting or to help with gift shopping or the big Christmas food shop!
Every month there's a chance to win a free £100 Aldi gift card, and you can keep re-entering for free every month. Enter free here!
Win a free takeaway on FreeClub, every month 2 people win a £50 JustEat gift card. Enter free here!
Additionally, keep an eye on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, where brands may run contests that reward participants with gift cards, prize bundles or exclusive discounts. These prizes aren’t taxable unless their value exceeds a specific threshold.
Earning tax-free cash and free gift cards can help take the stress out of holiday shopping. By leveraging these easy and effective strategies, you can fund your Christmas presents without dipping into your regular income or savings. Whether it's through cashback apps, survey sites, or scanning receipts, there are plenty of ways to earn extra funds for the holiday season—leaving you more time to enjoy the festivities and less time worrying about your budget. Happy shopping!
