Gift Aid

Providence Chapel, Blunham has been around for over 100 years. We need to raise money for:

  • The building - upkeep & repairs
  • Payment of Ministers e.t.c.

We ask all donors, if they are UK taxpayers to sign a declaration to allow the church to claim back that tax paid.

Gift Aid - Information about giving to charities

If you pay tax, Gift Aid is a scheme by which you can give a sum of money to charity and the charity can reclaim from the Inland Revenue basic rate tax on your gift. That increases the value of the gift you make to the charity. For example, if you give £10 using Gift Aid in the tax year 2000/01, that gift is worth £12.82 to the charity. You can make payments by cash, cheque, postal order, direct debit, standing order, debit or credit card or even in a foreign currency (including the euro). Subject to a few rules, you can give any amount, large or small, regular or one-off, and the charity can reclaim the tax. If you are a higher rate taxpayer, you can claim relief on the difference between the basic rate and higher rate of tax.

If you do not pay tax, you should not use Gift Aid.


Gift Aid - how to get tax back for your church

A Church does not have to be a registered charity with the Charities Commission. It just has to be accepted by the Inland Revenue as a charity for taxable purposes.

How to do it:

Write a letter to the


Inland Revenue Charities Section
St John's House
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside L69 9BB
Tel 08453 020203

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am the **** of the above church and I think that we need to register with you so that our treasurer can claim back tax under gift aid. Our financial year starts on the 1st of April each year.

Please send me the relevant forms with reference numbers so that we can reclaim tax on gift aid donations

Yours Sincerely

Mr xxxx

Treasurer of .......... church


Then you will get back a letter accepting you as a charity for tax purposes. This will have the following attached ....

  • Authorised Signatory form to be returned. This is so that only this officer of your church can make a claim for the tax.
  • Charity Repayment Claim form R68. This is for claiming back tax paid before 2000.
  • Charity Repayment Claim form R68(2000) for claiming back tax paid from 2000 and later on. This comes with a Schedule that you fill in with all the donors and their payments.

Donor declarations

Each donor must sign a declaration in the following format:

I would like to make a donation to ______________________ (name of charity) using Gift Aid. My details are:
First name Surname
Address
Postcode

I would like to Gift Aid the enclosed donation of £________________

The charity treasurer keeps the donor declarations and does not send them off.

Inland Revenue Gift Aid Audit
It is the responsibility of the charity treasurer to keep a record of all donations and declarations from donors to support the claims made. These will need to be presented at any audit by the Inland Revenue.

It is the responsibility of the donor to make sure that they do not sign declarations and give more money to charities than has been deducted from their income in tax.

Useful contacts

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/index.htm
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/faq_tax_back.htm