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What Is Gift Aid?

Gift Aid is set up by the UK government to maximise what is donated to charities.

If you are a UK taxpayer, we at TVC Church can claim an extra 25p from the Government for every £1 you give – at no extra cost to you.

That is 25% of everything that you give – it really adds up!

What does it mean for me?

In order to allow TVC Church to claim the extra 25% from your donation, you simply need to complete a Gift Aid declaration.  This is your declaration that you are a UK tax payer and that you are happy for us to claim the Gift Aid on your donation – we do the rest!

The easiest way to do this is through MyChurchSuite.

If you have a MyChurchSuite log on, simply go to the giving tab and then click ‘declarations’. It is really easy.

MyChurchSuite is the system that we use for all of our admin so it is the most effective way for us to process your gift aid. You can also amend or cancel your declarations should you need to.

If you don’t have my Church Suite yet, simply email us for a log in or you can download and print a gift aid from and bring it with you on your next visit.

 

 

Is there a catch?

Not really!

This scheme is set up by HMRC (who collect your tax) to give charities a helping hand.  The extra 25% comes from the tax that you have already given to the government. They pass it back to the charity.

There are one or two cases where you need to just make sure that you are paying enough tax to cover your donation and that is outlined below.

When should I not Gift Aid?

You should only sign a Gift Aid declaration if you are a UK tax payer.

If you do not pay tax at the moment, then you should not sign a new Gift Aid declaration. You should close any old declarations.

If you don’t pay much tax, you should look carefully at what you are donating and how this relates to how much tax you pay.  If the amount of Gift Aid that is being claimed in your name is more than the tax that you have paid, the government will expect you to pay the difference – not the charity!

If you have stopped paying tax then you should notify any charities who have a Gift Aid declaration open for you.

You can not Gift Aid if you are donating through a business.

 

FAQ’s

How do I know if I’m a UK taxpayer?
You ARE a UK income tax payer if:
Tax is taken from your wages or pension before you receive them.
You have to fill in a self-assessment form
You have any taxable savings (in a building society, for instance), or a pension plan, or investment income
You have recently paid any capital gains tax, or expect to pay it in the near future. This could be on the sale of a property or some shares, for example. If any of these apply to you, please complete and submit your declaration today!
I think I have already done one – do you need another?
We are refreshing the way that we do gift aid and so it would be really helpful if you were able to fill in another declaration. If that is not possible at the moment, don’t worry, your old one is still valid.
Do I need to make a Gift Aid declaration with every donation?
When you provide a Gift Aid declaration it will cover all of the eligible donations you give until you inform us otherwise – so one declaration will do! You also have the option to allow us to backdate any donations that you have given in the past 4 years (in tax years, 6 April – 5 April), which could amount to a lot of extra money that we can use to extend God’s kingdom!
What types of donations are eligible for the Gift Aid scheme?
– Direct Debits
– Standing Orders
– Card Payments
– Cheques
– Cash
– Text giving
What types of donations are not eligible for the Gift Aid scheme?
– Charities Aid Foundation account or similar agency donations (please see specific question below for more information)
– Payroll Giving donations
– Company donations
– Trust donations
How can you reclaim 25% when the basic rate of tax is currently 20%?
Ok this is a bit complicated but…
The basic rate of tax is calculated on the gross amount of the donation (i.e. before your tax was deducted) . This means we can reclaim 20% of the amount you earned before tax was deducted, which works out to be 25% of the amount that we receive.

To find out the exact amount of tax that TVC Church can reclaim, multiply the amount of your donation by 20 and then divide it by 80.
What if I pay Tax at a higher rate?
Charities can only claim back tax at the basic rate, but that is still worth 25% to us, so please complete and return the declaration anyway! As a higher-rate taxpayer you have the right to reclaim tax on your charitable donations. All you have to do is remember to include details of your charitable gifts on your self-assessment tax form to claim your additional personal tax relief (this being the difference between the basic rate of 20% and your higher rate).
Can I Gift Aid from my pension?
You may still be paying tax on a private pension plan or a savings account, or pay capital gains tax if you sell either a property or shares. You can still Gift Aid if you have paid enough tax during the year to cover your donations (i.e. 25% of the value of your gifts).
What if I have agreed to Gift Aid to another charity?
You can support as many UK charities as you like through Gift Aid. All you need to do is return a declaration to each charity that you support. But remember, you need to make sure that you are paying enough tax during the year to cover all of your annual donations!
I can’t see my giving when I log in to My Church Suite.
Don’t panic! This does not mean your donations have gone astray. At the moment, the way we track giving isn’t necessarily linked to ChurchSuite. However this is about to change as we work towards better integration of our systems. The first step in this process is to ask as many people as possible to declare their gift aid through MyChurchSuite as this will make the transfer process much easier. Therefore, if you are able to complete a gift aid declaration online (even though you have an active paper one somewhere) that would be really helpful. We hope to have the system fully integrated in the next few months and then your giving record will be readily available through the app at any time of the day or night!
Can I stop giving?
Completing a Gift Aid declaration does not put you under any obligation to give again – it just ensures that we can reclaim tax on the donations that you have already made and any you may make in the future, so that your gifts go further at no extra cost to you.