What is Gift Aid?

  • Gift Aid is the method used by the Government to allow charities, including the Church, to obtain a tax refund on donations made to them.
  • At present we receive £25 for every £ 100 of donations made through Gift Aid.
  • The Gift Aid scheme is simple, involves few formalities and is an essential source of revenue for our Churches.

What is involved in joining the Gift Aid Scheme?

  • To join the scheme you have to pay sufficient tax to cover the tax reclaimed on all your Gift Aid donations.
  • You have to sign a standard declaration that your donations are to count for Gift Aid.
  • Thereafter you only have to make sure that your donations are made in such a way that they can be recorded as made by you to the Church. The most common methods are
    • By Bankers’ Order
    • By using special numbered weekly envelopes which are provided free of charge.
    • Any amount as long as the donation shows your name and the church as recipient.

What donations can be included?

  • The Gift Aid declaration that you sign is in favour of the Diocese rather than the Parish, so all donations to the Parish and the Diocese can be included, for example: Offertory Collections, Easter and Christmas offerings, mass stipends, Parish and Diocesan second collections.
  • Excluded are collections for charities that are separate from the Diocese, for example MISSIO and CAFOD. These may ask you to make Gift Aid declarations in their favour.

Other practical points

  • As long as donations are made in an identifiable form there is no further action to be taken by donors. The actual tax recovery is made by the Diocese on behalf of the Parish. Donors who are liable to tax at the higher rates should keep a note of their donations, as they can obtain personal tax relief for the higher tax suffered.
  • As and when payments are made by cheque the cheques should be made payable to RCAS Westerham or RCAS Biggin Hill depending on which Parish you are donating to.

Related Information

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