Gift Aid Declarations

[nikiglenning]

Does anyone know if we if can still use the wording " if you are a UK tax payer, gift aid will enable us to claim a further 28% from the government......etc" in a gift aid declaration?

[nikiglenning]

Found out the answer to my question. It's best to say "we currently receive 25p from the Government". I finally got through to HMRC.

[Ian_Clark]

Does anyone know if we if can still use the wording " if you are a UK tax payer, gift aid will enable us to claim a further 28% from the government......etc" in a gift aid declaration?

It's important to distinguish between the information that HMRC requires to be included in the formal GA Declaration, and general explanations of how GA works (25% + 3% etc). I would keep the latter to general publicity material that the donor can keep. The formal Declaration only needs the key statements about paying tax and advising the charity of any changes in address or tax status (important if the Declaration covers future gifts as well).

Ian

[camcorders11]

Yes, you are right.
You can claim !

[Lee_Grant]

Basically you can still use your old/existing wording because the amount a charity is claiming is not a requirement on a Gift Aid declaration. However it is slightly misleading now because of transitional relief.

(If tax rates increase you may get into trouble with donors on the limit of tax and their Gift Aid as they may not have paid sufficient tax - still lets hope income tax doesn't go up in the near future eh?).

Check the Institutes download called Gift Aid statements for a guide:

http://www.tax-effective-giving.org.uk/ ... ements.pdf

HMRC's info is here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/gift_a ... ations.htm

Model declarations are also on both sites.

Lee

[Tammy]

Following on from the above posts I spoke to the HMRC this morning about whether we should be quoting 28% or 25% on our documentation and their response supports what has been said on here. Ideally we should be quoting 25% as this is what we claim for and the supporter therefore needs to only pay enough tax to cover the 25% we are going to claim. They also confirmed that it is acceptable to use up any existing stationery that states the higher rate but it would be a good idea at the next print run or revision to change the percentage.

However I do find myself asking whether websites need to be updated regardless of any stationery requirements. Every website I've looked at is quoting 28% and I have yet to find one that clearly explains the transitional relief clause implemented in 2008. Would it be better practice to wait to update the website until the other marketing media is also revised or to update the website as soon as possible? Since this year's Comic Relief night quite a few questions around this issue have been raised by colleagues and supporters. Is there a definitive answer to this?

Thank you for your time and help.

Kindest regards,

Tammy

[katie]

Dear Tammy,

Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer! However, I would advise that since a website is a lot easier (and cheaper!) to update than stationery and promotional materials, you should make sure that the site contains whatever the HMRC has said to be best practice. In order not to confuse your donors (i.e. by quoting 25% in some places and 28% elsewhere), you should probably state clearly that your charity can claim back 25% in Gift Aid from the HMRC, who will top this up with an extra 3% transitional relief until 2011.

I hope that helps?

Katie

[Tammy]

Hi Katie,

Thank you for your reply. You have confirmed my thoughts and I'll now add it to my to do list!! Thanks for your help.

T

[alc59]

We are now preparing our claim for the period to April 2010.

At the start of this year, we re-established contact with a very long standing regular donor to our church. Until now we haven't had a declaration form, and haven't made any gift ad claim on her donations. As a result of our contact, she has sent us a gift aid declaration dated January 2010 In which requests that all donations made since 5 April 2005 are Gift Aid donations, and certifying that she has paid tax at least equal to the tax reclaimed on these donations.

Can we actually claim back tax on all her donations back to 2005 ?
If so,
do we just put it in as a single sum on this year's form, and not worry about the fact that some of it is for previous tax years,
or
do we have to submit supplementary claims for each of the previous years ?

Thanks for your help.

[Ian_Clark]

I am not an expert on making GA claims, but my understanding is that you will need to make a separate claim for each relevant accounting period. You do not say whether your church is regarded by HMRC as a trust, in which case it needs to make claims covering tax years, or as a corporate body, in which case recent claims need to be made for your financial year (previously you could claim for any period, including tax years).

You need to make separate claims each year because tax rates can (and have) changed. You will also need to use the "old" R68 forms for claims up to 5/4/08, and then the "new" forms for the last two years.

I suggest you read the detail at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/guidance-notes/chapter6/parta.htm very carefully and apply it to your specific circumstances.