These notes support the New to Gift Aid? training sessions run in June 2013 and cover:

Transcription

1 Gift Aid the basics These notes support the New to Gift Aid? training sessions run in June 2013 and cover: 1. What is Gift Aid? 2. How do I claim Gift Aid? 3. Applying to HMRC for a charity reference number 4. Gift Aid Declarations 5. Record keeping 6. Claiming Gift Aid using Charities Online 7. The new Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) 8. Who should claim Gift Aid? 9. Gift Aid in specific situations 10. Higher rate tax payers 11. HMRC Audits 12. Communicating Gift Aid. 1. What is Gift Aid? Gift Aid is a scheme which enables PCCs and other charities to reclaim the UK tax paid by a donor on eligible donations. The government provides this scheme to encourage charitable giving and by using the Gift Aid scheme donors can increase the value of their donations by 25% (25p for every 1 donated) at no extra cost to the donor or the charity. Gift Aid can be claimed on gifts of money from individuals received as: cash cheques standing orders or direct debits credit or debit card payments bank transfers postal orders. Gifts made by cheque only count as received once the cheque has cleared. You can accept gifts of money made in sterling or any foreign currency. Payments that don't qualify for Gift Aid include: payments received in return for goods or services as these are not gifts e.g. payment for admission to a concert or payment for a raffle ticket gifts that come with a condition about repayment gifts with a condition that the charity buys goods or services from the donor any 'minimum donation' for an event where there is no choice about payment as this is simply a fee for goods or services not a gift gifts made using 'charity vouchers' or 'charity cheques' donations of money from a company. 1

2 Charities can give donors modest or low value tokens of appreciation called 'benefits' - in order to acknowledge a gift but there are clear limits on the value of benefits allowed. Tokens such as newsletters or stickers count as low value benefits. Gift Aid can only be claimed on donations from people who have paid income tax or capital gains tax. It is a donor s responsibility to tell charities whether or not they pay sufficient tax or if their tax situation changes but it is good practice to remind donors of this at least annually, perhaps as part of a thank you letter. 2. How do I claim Gift Aid? To claim Gift Aid you need to: apply to HM Revenue and Customs for a charity reference number for your PCC ask all eligible donors to complete a Gift Aid Declaration keep records of donations submit a claim to HMRC. 3. Applying to HMRC for a charity reference number Most PCCs have already applied to HMRC to claim Gift Aid and have a HMRC charity reference number. This number, which with usually begins with an X, must be used for all claims and correspondence. If you haven t already applied you need to fill in HMRC s form ChA1 and separate guidance to help PCCs with completing this form is available from C&R. 4. Gift Aid Declarations A Gift Aid Declaration (GAD) is a statement by a UK taxpayer asking for their donations to be treated as Gift Aid payments so that the tax they have paid on the amount donated can be claimed back by the charity receiving the donation. In completing the Gift Aid Declaration the donor is confirming that he or she: is a UK taxpayer and will pay at least as much income tax or capital gains tax in the tax-year as is allowed to be reclaimed on all his or her charitable donations. Donations must be accompanied by a valid declaration before you reclaim any Gift Aid on the donation. A GAD can apply to all future donations made by the donor to the church. These are known as an enduring declarations and can be cancelled at any time. This is the best option for regular donors so there is no need to complete a new declaration every week or month. Charities are free to devise their own GADs but as certain features must be included it would be advisable to use the model declarations attached to this note. Electronic versions can be found here: 2

3 GADs should include: name of charity (i.e. the PCC) amount of donation (unless it is an enduring GAD covering past and/or future donations) donor s name (at a minimum, the initial of the first name and surname) donor s address (at a minimum, the house name or number and postcode) the date a statement or tick box confirming the amount should be treated as a Gift Aid donation whether the declaration covers only the present donation or past and/or future donations as well confirmation the donor has been given an explanation that they must pay at least as much UK income tax and/or capital gains tax (for the year of the donation) as the amount that will be claimed by your PCC and on gifts to any other charities or Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs). A signature is not technically required on a Gift Aid Declaration but it is good practice to ask donors to sign a declaration as this underlines the form s official nature. Gift Aid declarations can be made orally but as you then have to write to the donor to confirm the information they gave you it is generally easiest to use a written declaration in the first place. A Gift Aid Declaration can relate to all future donations and can be back-dated to apply to all donations made by a donor in the previous four years. These are generally known as enduring declarations. Declarations on one-off Gift Aid envelopes Gift Aid envelopes are ideal for one-off givers and visitors who wish to Gift Aid their donation. The envelopes incorporate a Gift Aid Declaration and your donors will need to complete this declaration in full. You ll need to keep the envelope as part of your Gift Aid records as you would any Gift Aid declaration. Envelopes for regular givers Most churches use envelopes for those regular givers who prefer not to give by standing order. Regular givers are allocated a number and do not need to sign a declaration every week as you will be able to link donations in numbered envelopes to existing Gift Aid Declarations. Frequently asked questions about Gift Aid Declarations Q1: Do I need to get a new GA declaration if a donor moves house? A: Yes. A declaration needs to be valid at the time of the donation and charities are expected to make reasonable efforts to keep donor information up to date. 3

4 Q2: Can two or more people complete a joint declaration? A: Spouses and people living at the same address can make a joint declaration, in effect making two or more Gift Aid declarations on the same form. All the donors must be taxpayers and the declaration must include the full name, address and postcode of each person. Joint payments should be split equally between the donors unless both parties tell you how they want their payments to be split. Where the declaration form asks for a signature, only one of the donors needs to sign it. Each donor must be listed separately on the Gift Aid schedule spreadsheet that you complete for your claim, and this needs to show the amount of the donation from each of the donors. As the record keeping is simpler if your donors complete separate forms it is best to encourage them to do so. 5. Record keeping All charities need to keep records to prove the Gift Aid claims submitted are valid. Records must prove is that every donation on which Gift Aid has been claimed can be traced back to an identifiable donor who has signed a valid Gift Aid Declaration. Charities need to keep: all enduring Gift Aid Declarations standing order mandates relating to Gift Aid donations bank statements, because these show income from regular donations made by standing order, cheque or cash (whether in envelopes or loose) plus income from one-off donations or donations to particular appeals paying-in book stubs showing details of all donations paid in the envelopes you receive containing Gift Aided donations, with the amount each envelope contained written on it. any correspondence to or from the donor which relates to his or her Gift Aid donations, including any notification of a change of name or change of address and notification of the cancellation of the Gift Aid Declaration any other paperwork relating to the donation. Some of these records will be held by the Treasurer, rather than the Gift Aid Secretary and it doesn t matter who keeps them as long as they are kept safely. Records do not have to be kept on paper; they may be scanned and held electronically. It is not sufficient to keep only a list of people who have signed a Declaration; you need to be able to show the actual Gift Aid Declaration (or a scanned copy of it) in each donor s name. How long should I keep Gift Aid records? PCCs are treated as a charitable company for the retention of records which means that all financial records must be kept until six years after the end of the accounting period to which 4

5 they relate. For example, you should keep bank statements relating to the calendar year ending 31 st Dec 2012 until at least 31 st Dec For Gift Aid purposes, you should keep records for six calendar years after the year in which a claim is submitted. For example, if you submit a claim for 2010 donations in 2012, you should keep the financial records until 31 st Dec You do not need to keep all the giving envelopes but, as a minimum, you should keep all envelopes relating to claims you have not yet made, all envelopes from the last 12 months and a one month sample of regular giving envelopes from each of the preceding six years. One-off envelopes all need to be kept for the full six years because these include the donor s declaration. Enduring declarations which relate to all future donations must be kept permanently or for at least until 6 years after the donor cancels the declaration or ceases to give. Declarations relating to one-off donations (including declarations on Gift Aid envelopes) should be kept for the full six calendar years after the end of the year in which the tax was reclaimed. 6. Claiming Gift Aid using Charities Online HMRC has a new service Charities Online which went live in April Part of this service is an entirely new claims process for Gift Aid. Previously, charities have claimed Gift Aid using a print and post form, the R68(i), but this can only be used until 30 th Sept There are now three ways to claim Gift Aid: 1. Online using HMRC s new service - Charities Online Parishes will submit claims online after registering with HMRC s Charities Online service. Details of claims need to be submitted by uploading a schedule spreadsheet. 2. Using specially developed software Parishes using software such as Donations Coordinator or FundFiler will be able to submit their claims directly to HMRC without needing to register with Government Gateway. Very large charities will have specially developed databases and so will also use this option. 3. With a new paper form - ChR1 This form has been designed for scanning by a computer and requires writing letters into individual boxes by hand, as with a passport application form. This is an unattractive option and limited to 90 donations per form. As most parishes will claim Gift Aid using Charities Online, the rest of this note covers this method of claiming. 5

6 Online claiming the advantages Once we are familiar with the new claim process, there will be some benefits: Claims will be paid more quickly. HMRC is aiming to pay claims within 15 days compared to 30 days using the current R68(i). Data will be checked as claims are submitted and, if there are any errors, the claim will be rejected with the errors highlighted. Claimants will then be able to correct any mistakes or add any missing data straight away so claims will not be delayed. HMRC will be able to tackle fraud more easily as the data will be held electronically. Online claiming the disadvantages Inevitably, the change to online claiming changes could be seen to have some disadvantages: It will be easier for HMRC to scrutinise claims and so parishes need to ensure that their record keeping is robust Some charities fear that a more big brother approach by HMRC will lead to a decline in contributions as, in theory, HMRC will more easily be able to check whether a donor has paid sufficient tax to cover all their Gift Aided donations to charities. Registering with Charities Online to claim Gift Aid Registering will be a two stage process. PCCs will need to register with HMRC s Online Services or Government Gateway as the first stage of registering for Charities Online then activate the account using a PIN. 1. Step one of registering with HMRC Online Services or Government Gateway. o Register as an organisation. You may already be registered if you have paid staff. o An address is requested and this may be the opportunity to set up a dedicated parish finance or Gift Aid address if you don t already have one. o You will be asked some known facts such as your postcode or the last 3 digits of the church s bank account. o An Activation PIN will be posted to you so you can complete your registration with Charities Online. This code needs to be used within 28 days. 2. Completing your registration with HMRC s Charities Online o Use the Activation PIN with 28 days and then you can manage your account online and submit Gift Aid claims. o You are allowed more than one online user. These can be administrators or assistants. Administrators will be able to change details, register for new services and create or delete other administrators and assistants. Assistants will be able to send in Gift Aid claims forms and some other documents. Names can be changed through Government Gateway. 6

7 Claiming Gift Aid online Claiming Gift Aid involves filling in an online form and uploading a schedule spreadsheet containing the details of the claim. The spreadsheet is available on HMRC s website allows up to 1,000 donors or donations per claim. The schedule spreadsheet must be in.odf or Open Document format and must contain all the required donor details or the claim will not be accepted by the online claim system. Information can be copied and pasted from your own electronic records onto HMRC s schedule spreadsheet as long as it contains the required donor details in the correct order and format. HMRC have produced two versions of the schedule spreadsheet, one version can be used with Microsoft Office and one with LibraOffice (free software). The format is not compatible with early versions of Excel. Below is a screen print of the schedule spreadsheet which can be downloaded from HMRC s website here: Gift Aid donations schedule HM Revenue & Customs How to complete this schedule: Step 1 Enter the date for the earliest donation you have received in the period that you are claiming for in Box 1. Please note: This date should be the earliest date of a donation included in the schedule below. Step 2 Enter the amount of tax overclaimed in previous Gift Aid claims in Box 2. If you have not overclaimed any tax, leave this box blank. Step 3 Enter the details of each donation in the donations schedule table below. Enter values in pound sterling including pence. Important note You must not alter the structure or formatting of data in this schedule. If you do HMRC will not accept your schedule. More information about how to fill in this schedule is available on the HMRC website by following the link below. You must be connected to the internet to access the guide. Charities Online guidance Earliest donation date: Box 1 (DD/MM/YY) For schedules that include aggregate donations, the date entered in Box 1 may be earlier than any date entered in the donation date column of the donations schedule table below. Previously over-claimed amount: Box 2 Donations schedule table Please enter the previously over-claimed amount for Gift Aid donations in Box 2. The total below is automatically calculated from the amounts you enter in the schedule. Total donations: 0.00 Item Title First name Last name House name or number Postcode Aggregated donations Sponsored event Donation date (Yes/blank) (DD/MM/YY) Amount Step by step guidance on the claims process including screen shots is available on HMRC s website here: 7

8 Donor details The claims process requires charities to provide details from donors as part of the information sent to HMRC. More details are required for the new claims process and these details include the donor s name (or initial), address and postcode. The necessary information is outlined below. Required field Is this minimum information required? Max no of characters Title No 4 First name or initials Yes 35 Last name Yes 35 House name or number Yes (or full first line of address) 40 Postcode UK addresses only 10 Aggregated donations Only if claiming aggregated donation 35 Sponsored event No Yes or blank Date of payment or latest in series Yes DD/MM/YYYY Total amount of donations received Yes When a claim is submitted online, any errors will be highlighted immediately and you will be able to correct the information. Postcodes are an essential part of the donor information required by HMRC but this requirement will not be enforced until after March Aggregating Gift Aided donations Parishes are able to add together (i.e. aggregate) small donations from different donors onto one line of the schedule spreadsheet without providing detailed donor information. The limits for aggregating Gift Aided donations increased in April 2013 and you are now able to aggregate individual Gift Aid donations of 20 or less up to a total of 1,000 per line on the schedule spreadsheet. Aggregated claims will generally be used for one-off envelopes. To claim Gift Aid on aggregated donations, do not enter the name and address of the donors. Instead, enter in the 'Aggregated Donations' box a simple description, such as 'April gifts', using a maximum of 35 characters. Enter the date of the last donation and the total amount donated. Each donor still needs to have completed a valid GAD and you should give each aggregated claim a sensible name in case you are audited by HMRC. 8

9 Only add together donations that were made within the same accounting period. Your accounting period ends on the date to which you prepare accounts. For PCCs this is 31 st December. Adding together regular donations If regular donations are made by one person these can be shown on one line added together with just the latest date in the series entered in the date box. Only add together donations that were made within the same accounting period. Sponsored events Donations raised through sponsored events don t need to be entered individually on your Gift Aid claim. Just enter the name of the participant on the schedule spreadsheet together with the total amount of Gift Aided donations on their sponsor form, but exclude sponsorship donations of over 500 which must be entered separately. Each donor needs to make a Gift Aid declaration but this can be done as part of the sponsorship form. You must keep the sponsorship form showing all the individual sponsors and Gift Aid confirmations with your other Gift Aid records. A model sponsorship form is available on HMRC s website here: Time limits for claiming Gift Aid There are time limits for making a claim and to make sure you receive all the Gift Aid you are entitled to it is best to claim at least once a year. However, you can claim for up to four years after receiving a donation. Claims must be made within four years of the end of the accounting period in which the Gift Aid donation is received. The accounting period for PCCs is 1 st January to 31 st December and so a Gift Aid claim for donations received in 2012 must be made by 31 st December Frequently asked questions about claiming Gift Aid Q1: How often can I claim? A: There is no limit to the number of claims you can make or the frequency of claims. Q2: Can I stop and save what I have done part way through a claim? A: Yes. If you are part way through completing the online form you can save your detail and return to the claim later (as long as it is within 30 days). 9

10 Q3: What should I do if I receive a donation from a joint bank account but don t have Gift Aid Declarations from both account holders? A: You can assume that the donation is from the person who has made the Gift Aid Declaration, even is it is authorised by the other account holder, unless you have evidence to suggest otherwise. 10

11 7. The new Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) started on 6 th April 2013 and allows charities to claim a Gift Aid style payment on small cash donations of 20 or less, up to a total of 5,000 of donations per tax year. Which donations count? To be eligible under the GASDS, donations must be small cash donations: small donations of 20 or less cash in coins or notes. Standing orders, cheques, text or online giving etc are not eligible donations only - money from raffles, tombolas, sales and other income that would not qualify for Gift Aid cannot be included in the scheme. The donations must be from individuals on which no Gift Aid claim has been made. Cash collections received during services are the most common examples of qualifying donations for churches. There is also a matching rule. Charities need to claim 1 on regular Gift Aid donations for every 10 claimed under GASDS. The tax year is the relevant period for the matching rule, not your church s accounting period which is a calendar year. Are we eligible to use the scheme? PCCs are able to use the GASDS scheme if they have: existed for at least 2 complete tax years before the year you want to claim for made a successful Gift Aid claim in at least two of the previous four tax years. There must not be a period of two or more tax years between those claims or between the latest claim and the year you are claiming in not incurred a penalty relating to a Gift Aid or GASDS claim in the current or previous tax year. What is the maximum we can claim? There are two elements to the GASDS: a top up element of 5,000 per charity a community building element of 5,000 per qualifying building. If charities are connected these charities must share the top up element. HMRC s current position is that all PCCs in a diocese are connected to each other and so need to share the top up amount. The national church is challenging this! Meanwhile, PCCs are eligible to claim only through the community buildings element of the GASDS. 11

12 What is a community building? Community buildings can include churches, halls or schools and the buildings must be: accessible to the public at some or all times used for charitable activities by the claiming charity, which for our purposes is services or worship used on at least 6 occasions a year when at least 10 people are present on each occasion. As long as the money is collected when you are running charitable activities and the building meets the criteria for being a community building (see paragraph above) you can claim a 5,000 allowance for: each church in a parish some church halls some other buildings e.g. a school used for a church plant. If buildings are on adjoining land then they count as one community building. So a church and a church hall on adjoining land would share one 5,000 allowance. What evidence do we need to keep? HMRC require you to keep two elements of evidence: forms showing the cash collected at services and which provide evidence of the donations that are eligible. These forms should be signed and an example form is attached to these notes deposit slips showing the cash was banked. How do we claim? Claims under the GASDS will need to be made as part of the new Gift Aid online claims process by completing the community buildings schedule spreadsheet and uploading with your claim. There is a two year time limit for claiming - all claims under the GASDS must be made within two year of the end of the tax year in which the donation was collected. Overleaf is a screen print of the community buildings schedule spreadsheet which can be downloaded from HMRC s website here: 12

13 Frequently asked questions about the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme Q1: How will I know whether say, a 20 note and a 10 note are part of the same gift? A: HMRC are content for you to assume that cash donations collected on a plate or in a bucket are from a number of individuals unless there is evidence to suggest otherwise e.g. two 20 notes in one envelope are likely to have come from one person. Q2: Does the Small Donations Scheme remove the need for one-off Gift Aid envelopes? A: No. Some donors will want to be able to give even small donations through Gift Aid, and if a church receives more than 5,000 in small cash donations Gift Aid can only be claimed on the first 5,000. One-off envelopes should still be available for those who wish to give more than 20 or who wish to give by cheque. Q3: Is a gift of 20 or less in a regular giving envelope on which no Gift Aid declaration has been received eligible for the scheme? A: Yes. Q4: What about collections received which will be given to other charities e.g. donations for the Children s Society collected at a Christingle service? A: The PCC can only claim on up to 5,000 of eligible donations per community building and if it receives more than this, the PCC can choose which donations to claim on. If the PCC chooses to include donations that will be passed onto another charity, these still form part of the 5,000 limit, and the GASDS claimed on them should also be passed on, just as is the case with Gift Aid. 13

14 Q5: Can we claim on foreign currency? A: Yes. Bank notes and coins can be of any currency up to a sterling equivalent of 20. Q6: Can we count cash donations given in a wall safe by visitors? A: Not at the moment as PCCs can only claim under the community building element of GASDS. This means donations must have been received when undertaking charitable activities with 10 or more people present. You would have no evidence how many people were present when wall safe or similar donations were made. However, when we can persuade HMRC that PCCs are not controlled by diocesan bishops, then such donations will become eligible 8. Who should claim Gift Aid? In many parishes the PCC Treasurer is assisted by a Gift Aid Officer and having a dedicated Gift Aid Officer helps to make sure that parishes get the most out of Gift Aid as well as reducing the Treasurer s workload. A suggested job description for a Gift Aid Officer is available from C&R and training available for individuals new to this role. Under HMRC s new online claiming process, charities can allow more than one person to submit Gift Aid claims and so this may be an opportunity to split the Treasurer role and give the responsibility of claiming Gift Aid to another volunteer. 9. Gift Aid in specific situations Can I claim Gift Aid on...? Gifts of money from an individual Volunteers expenses or gifts in kind. Raffles, the tombola etc. at the church fête? Jumble sales, car boot sales etc. Church events e.g. suppers, dinners or balls, quiz nights Yes Yes but only by following a certain process which ensures a sound audit trail. Expenses must be claimed and physically paid. If the expenses money is then voluntarily given back to the church, Gift Aid can be claimed on the donation. No the donor is paying for an opportunity to win a prize so it s a purchase not a donation. No the person handing over the money is a buyer not a donor and gets something in exchange for their money. No not if entry fees or tickets are required. However, you can invite additional donations which must be entirely voluntary and unconditional. You must not suggest any amount for the additional donation. 14

15 Can I claim Gift Aid on...? Sales of donated goods. Sponsor money for sponsored events Auctions of Gifts or Promises. Supporting a member of the parish on a mission posting or contributing towards the salary of the parish youth worker. Entry fees to see the building. Entry fees for events in the building e.g. concerts Collections made in church for other charities Possibly - but it s a fairly complicated process that has been designed for charity shops. Yes but not on any sponsor money that goes towards the cost of a sponsored challenge. Generally No. It is possible in come some cases but it s a fairly complicated process and only possible if someone buys an item for significantly more than its verifiable market value. Yes but only if donations are made through a mission agency or the PCC. Donations paid directly to the missionary or parish worker do not qualify for Gift Aid. No - unless you charge all visitors for entry and an additional 10% is freely given. No No if the church has not exercised any discretion in collecting the donations and the donations are merely given to the church to pass on. Yes if the church has exercised discretion and decides to open a fund or collect donations for a particular charity e.g. Bishop s Lent Appeal or the Children s Society. The expectation is that the church would pass on to the charity the Gift Aid claimed on the donations. 10. Higher rate tax payers Only basic rate tax can be reclaimed by a charity through Gift Aid even if the donor is a higher rate taxpayer. However, if a donor is a higher rate taxpayer, they can claim relief equal to the difference between the higher rate of tax and the basic rate of tax on the total value of the donation. 11. Donations to restricted funds Donations to restricted funds can be Gift-Aided in the same way as other donations. Gift Aid claimed on restricted donations should be allocated to the same restricted fund. 15

16 12. HMRC Audits Sometimes HMRC can carry out checks without contacting charities directly, but on occasion will ask for additional information or documents in an audit which could involve a visit to look at your records. An audit has three main objectives: to check that the donations meet the requirements of the Gift Aid scheme to check that a valid Gift Aid declaration is held for every donation in your claim to check that any benefits given to donors are within the limits. Whether the auditor asks to visit your church or asks you to send in your records, they will want to see the following items: Gift Aid Declarations for the donations included in your claim evidence to show that you received and banked the donations evidence to show that you received and banked the tax repayment any other records or documents you may have relating to the claim a copy of your church s latest accounts. If HMRC s auditor finds mistakes with your Gift Aid claim, your church may have to repay some of the Gift Aid claimed. The auditor will explain what the errors are, how to correct them if possible and how to avoid them in future. 13. Communicating Gift Aid It is important to promote Gift Aid at all opportunities and ensure that Gift Aid envelopes are strategically placed with pens readily available. Remind your congregation about how much is Gift Aid is claimed and the benefits of the additional income to your church. Think about including: an occasionally paragraph about Gift Aid in notice sheets Gift Aid information in your annual thank you letters to donors. There is a danger that poor communication of the new Small Donations Scheme will lead to the assumption by donors that there is no longer a need to complete a GA Declaration - even for donations larger than 20 so it is important to continue to promote the regular Gift Aid scheme and encourage donors to complete Gift Aid Declarations. The new online claims process will make it easier for HMRC to check that donors have paid enough tax to cover all their Gift Aided donations. This underlines the need to remind donors of the need to pay sufficient tax and to tell you if their circumstances change and they stop paying tax. Annual thank you letters are an ideal opportunity to do this. 16

17 Example of an enduring Gift Aid Declaration for regular givers St Agatha s Anytown PCC Gift Aid declaration for past, present & future donations Please treat as Gift Aid donations all qualifying gifts of money made today in the past 4 years in the future Please tick all boxes you wish to apply. I confirm I have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for each tax year (6 April to 5 April) that is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities or Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) that I donate to will reclaim on my gifts for that tax year. I understand that other taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. I understand St Agatha s will reclaim 28p of tax on every 1 that I gave up to 5 April 2008 and will reclaim 25p of tax on every 1 that I give on or after 6 April Donor s details Title First name or initial(s) Surname Full home address Postcode Date Signature Please notify St Agatha s Anytown if you: Want to cancel this declaration Change your name or home address No longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains. If you pay Income Tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code. 17

18 Example of a Gift Aid Declaration for one-off donations St Agatha, Anytown PCC Please treat as a Gift Aid donation this gift of I confirm I have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for the relevant tax year (6 April to 5 April) that is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities (including churches) and Community Amateur Sports Clubs that I donate to will reclaim on my gifts for that tax year. I understand that other taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. I understand St Agatha s will reclaim 25p of tax on every 1 that I give. Full Name : Address (including postcode): Postcode: Date: Signature: Example wording for Gift Aid envelopes Envelope for Gift Aid Donations St Agatha, Anytown PCC Please print clearly NAME (surname & initials) HOUSE No./NAME POSTCODE DATE I wish Gift Aid to apply to the enclosed donation and I confirm I will pay in this tax year an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the amount that all charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs to which I give will reclaim for this year (25p for each 1 given). I understand that other taxes such as Council Tax and VAT do not qualify. 18

19 St Agatha s Church, Anywhere Vestry Collection Record Date Regular Giving Envelopes One-off Gift Aid Envelopes 1 Open Plate and Non-Gift Aided Donations 2 No of Envelopes: No of Envelopes: Eligible for GASDS Not Eligible for GASDS Non-Donations 3 TOTAL Notes: Coins: p 20p 10p or 5p 2p or 1p TOTAL Cheques GRAND TOTAL Notes 1 Also include in this column one-off donations that you know to be covered by a Gift Aid declaration. You should make a note in the top box below if a donation has been received that should be covered by an existing Gift Aid declaration. 2 As well as open-plate collection, you should include in this column any donations from individuals not accompanied by a Gift Aid declaration. The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) only applies to cash donations of 20 or less. 50 notes and cheques should be recorded in the right hand column, as should any donations that you know to be over 20 from an individual donor (e.g. two 20 notes in an envelope, or secured with an elastic band). 3 Non-Donations includes receipts for magazines, books, tea & coffee, candles etc. Counted by and (sign) 19