Are gifts to children tax deductible?

A non-refundable or wastable tax credit cannot reduce the tax owed below zero, and hence cannot cause a taxpayer to receive a refund in excess of their payments into the tax system. Some examples of non-refundable tax credits are the Hope and Lifetime Learning educational tax credits in the US or the former children's tax credit in the UK. Another example would be declared gifts made to registered charities in the UK under the current Giftaid scheme, which attract tax relief (claimed by the charity) at the standard rate but which cannot reduce the donor's liabilty beyond the amount of tax actually paid by them in a given year.