PARISH INCOME
Our parish relies mainly on two major sources of income:-
- the money given at the offertory
at Mass.
- the tax refunds that it receives on
these donations through gift aid.
There are other sources of income (such as fund raising events, occasional donations summer/Christmas fairs, etc.) but it is the offertory and gift aid tax refunds that provide our parish with its two main sources of income.
In the majority of parishes in our diocese just over one-half of the offertory is gift aided.
WHAT IS GIFT AID?
Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows us to reclaim the basic rate tax you pay as a UK taxpayer. It means that we can claim 25p of tax for every £1 you donate at no extra cost to you. All you need to do is make a Gift Aid declaration.
Whatever you give through the Gift Aid Scheme
the inland revenue will add an amount to your donations.
If you give £8 per week a further £2 will be added to your donation making it worth a total of £10
£4 per week would be worth £5 to the parish. A
weekly donation of £3 would be worth £3.75
So, however much or little you are able to give,
It’s worth giving it through Gift Aid.
CAN YOU ANSWER “YES” TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS?
- Do you give money at the offertory? (However small the amount)
- Are you a taxpayer? Even if you only
pay very little in tax?
- If you don’t already do so, are you willing to
make your offertory donations either in offertory envelopes, or through your bank by standing order?
If you can answer “Yes” to these questions, you can help boost our parish income by thousands of pounds every year by taking advantage of “Gift Aid”
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO?
Just give us your name and address on a Gift Aid Declaration form and tell us whether you would like to use offertory envelopes or to give by banker’s standing order or by cheque. That’s all there is to it.
WHAT WILL IT COST YOU?
Absolutely nothing. You are not being asked for more money than you are already giving.
Just complete one of the forms in the church entrance, talk to your gift aid organiser, or telephone the Diocesan Gift Aid Office on 0151 652 9855.
It’ll only take you a minute to join!
WHO CAN “GIFT AID” THEIR DONATIONS TO CHARITIES?
Anyone who has any form of income (a wage, a salary, a pension from a previous employer or savings in a bank or building society) on which you pay income tax can gift aid your donations.
There are only two conditions to completing a Declaration to Donate under the Gift Aid Scheme. If you wish to use gift aid:-
- You must be paying as much income tax (or
capital gains tax) as all charities to which you
donate in any tax year will claim back in
gift aid on your donations.
- Your donations must be given in such a way that
they can be recorded. For donors in our parish this would probably be either by:-
- numbered offertory envelope, or
- cheque, or
- banker’s standing order.
You do not need to be paying a large amount of tax –
only as much as all charities to which you donate will claim back on your donations.
Examples of how much tax you need to be paying to be able to gift aid are:-
- If you give £1 per week to your parish you only need to be paying around £13 per year in Income Tax (25 pence per week or £1.10 per month).
- If you give £3 per week to your parish you would only need to be paying around £39 per year in tax (less than £1 per week).
- If you give £10 per week to your parish you would only need to be paying around £130 per year in tax (only £2.50 per week in tax).
- You do not have to agree to give any particular
amount.
- You are under no obligation to give a fixed amount
- You are under no obligation to give something every week.
All you are saying, when you join gift aid, is that whatever you give you wish the parish to be able to claim back the tax on it.
You can find out how much tax you have paid in the last tax year from:-
- your Form P60
- your building society (or bank) interest
certificate
- your dividend vouchers
WHY CAN THE PARISH CLAIM BACK TAX?
The reason is this – through your offertory gift at Mass, you are already helping to support the work of your parish. You may be doing this each week, month, quarter or year. You may also be giving in other ways – such as Christmas & Easter offerings. special retiring collections, etc. (In addition, you may perhaps wish to make a “one-off” donation to a parish from time-to-time).
By doing so you are in effect “transferring” part of your income so that it now becomes the income of the parish.
Our individual personalincome is taxable – but the income of the parish is not taxable. So, the parish can claim back from the government whatever income tax you have already paid on the money you are donating. This is because the parish has “charitable status.”
WHAT IF I CANNOT GIVE A FIXED AMOUNT?
You do not have to give the same amount each week and it doesn’t matter if you miss the odd weeks here or there.
DO I HAVE TO MAKE A BINDING COMMITMENT?
No! Don’t worry – gift aid is not a binding commitment and the parish will only claim back a tax refund on the actual amount that you have given. You do not need to make up any missed payments, unless you feel that you wish to do so.
IS GIFT AID CONFIDENTIAL?
Yes, at every stage. There is no need to tell anyone where you work, where your pension comes from, or where your savings are. You do not have to tell anyone what you earn or how much tax you pay or any other personal financial matters.
I AM ALREADY GIVING TO MY PARISH AT THE OFFERTORY. WILL IT COST ME MORE TO GIVE IT UNDER THE GIFT AID SCHEME?
No, it will cost you nothing extra. You are not being asked for more money, nor are you being asked to give twice, simply to declare that you are already giving to the parish through your offertory donations (and at other times). As for the income tax the parish can reclaim, the government is only handing back income tax that you are already paying, so it will not affect you adversely – as long as you are paying income tax.
WHAT HAPPENS IF …………..?
Should your circumstances change, or you decide that you no longer wish to be in the scheme, all you have to do is to let us know. Gift aid is not a binding commitment – you can be released from it at any time on request. You would not even be asked to give a reason.
IS IT LEGAL?
Of course it is! All churches and charities are encouraged by the government to take advantage of gift aid. Churches and charities use gift aid to provide an important and substantial boost to their income.
HOW MUCH DO I HAVE TO GIVE?
You do not have to give a fixed amount and there is no lower limit to how much you can give under the gift aid scheme; a gift of any amount would qualify for a tax refund under gift aid.
It doesn’t matter how much – or how little – you are able to donate – it may be 50p per week, £10 per week or £50 per week. Or you may wish to make a “one-off” donation. This could be £5, £10, £500 or £5,000 – or a gift of any amount whatsoever.
Whatever you give, if you can, it is worth giving it under the Gift Aid Scheme