GIFT AID

Church of England parishes collectively received £82 million in Gift Aid tax rebates in 2008, over £30 million more than the amount collected in the year 2000. The amount reclaimed in 2009 was sufficient to pay 3,500 clergy stipends! This is a great tribute to the hard work of volunteers running Gift Aid programmes in parishes throughout the country, as well as a testimony to the value of the Gift Aid scheme.

This section offers resources to help you run an effective Gift Aid programme in your parish. Churches are charities, and can recover the basic-rate tax paid on donations made by donors who are UK taxpayers. The system is easy to set up and operate and one declaration can apply to all donations that a donor makes, and this can even be backdated for four years.

2012 IMPORTANT UPDATE :

Parishes will need to adopt new wording for newly signed Gift Aid declarations. This must be in place before the end of the year, but it can be done now! Click here to find out more. Don't leave it too late.

Gift Aid Fact Sheets :

These Fact Sheets are to help you make the most of Gift Aid.....

GA1 An update on Gift Aid for 2011 - what you need to do
GA2 Higher Rate Taxpayers & Gift Aid - guidance for churches.
GA3 Can we claim Gift Aid on..... ??
GA4 Basic Principles and Donor Benefit - don't fall foul of the rules.
GA5 Ten tips for maximising Gift Aid
GA6 HMRC Audits
GA7 HMRC's new 'Fit and Proper Persons' Test - what you need to do.

Starting Out :

These factsheets aim to help new Gift Aid officers, and churches setting up Gift Aid for the first time:

GAB1 Getting Started with Gift Aid - an overview to the scheme
GAB2 A job description for a Gift Aid Officer
GAB3 Registering with HMRC
GAB4 Gift Aid declarations and Envelopes
GAB5 Keeping Records
GAB6 Making a Claim
GAB7 Common Mistakes
GAB8 Where you can find out more

However, you may not need to operate Gift Aid yourself as some dioceses offer a Diocesan scheme. These include Canterbury, Lichfield, Liverpool, Manchester, Peterborough, Portsmouth, and Southwell & Nottingham. If you are in one of these dioceses, you might like to contact your Diocesan Office to find out more about them.

Data Developments have produced some free Gift Aid checklists. You may find these a helpful way of assessing your Gift Aid processes.

GIFT AID

Gift Aid is a vital source of income to parishes, with over £80 million claimed by parishes each year.

2012 CHANGES

HMRC have introduced new requirements for Gift Aid declarations signed after the end of this year. Parishes need to update their declarations and envelopes; but do not need to change existing enduring declarations. Click here to find out more.