Giving
If you pay income or capital gains tax, you may be able to increase the value fo your monetary contribution to the church, at no additional cost to yourself, by registering for the Gift Aid scheme. Just download and fill in this Gift Aid form. If you have any questions, hopefully the information below will help.
| The New Gift Aid scheme | |
| - your questions answered | |
| Q. | What is this new Gift Aid Scheme? |
| A. | It is a scheme introduced by the Government with effect from 6 April 2000 to allow charities to claim back tax paid by donors. It replaced the previous Covenant and Gift Aid schemes. |
| Q. | Who can use the scheme? |
| A. | Anyone resident in the United Kingdom who pays Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax, regardless of whether you pay tax at the basic rate or only at the lower rates. |
| Q. | How do I join the scheme? |
| A. | You complete the attached simple form. The one form covers all donations made in the last 6 years and all future donations. This will be the only form we require from you. |
| Q. | Is there any minimum amount either for a single donation or for the year? |
| A. | No. The amount donated can vary from a few pence upwards and can vary from year to year. The church can recover the tax on what you actually give however large or small your donation. For practical purposes, I would suggest a minimum total donation to the church of £10 in a year. |
| Q. | Is there any maximum amount that can be given under this scheme? |
| A. | No, provided you have paid an amount of tax that is at least as great as that the Church will seek to recover. |
| Q. | I give to the United Appeal, World Development Appeal and the PWA as well as through the FWO envelopes. Do I need a separate form for each? |
| A. | No. One form covers all giving to High Street, Holywood, Presbyterian Church (including the PWA). As well as the funds mentioned, it can cover donations to special appeals, such as the Sudan and Tsunami Appeals in recent years. |
| Q. | How do I give my donations to ensure the Church gets the full benefit? |
| A. | Donations can be given by any means as long as it is recorded against your name (or FWO number) in the church books. It is therefore important that you put your name (or FWO number) on donations to the United Appeal, World Development Appeal, special appeals etc. As the Church has no way of knowing who has given the loose money on the collection plate, this money can never be part of the scheme. |
| Q. | How much tax can the church recover? |
| A. | On the basis of the current basic Income Tax rate of 22%, the Church can recover 28.2p for every £1.00 you donate. The amount will change when the basic tax rate changes again. |
| Q. | I only pay a small amount of tax on my pension and/or savings and/or dividends. Is it still worth my while joining the scheme? |
| A. | Very definitely, Yes. However it could be that the amount of tax the Church would seek to recover would be greater than the amount of tax you have paid. If you think you might be in that position, please contact David Finlay (phone 9042 3293) and he will go over the options with you. |
| Q. | I pay Income Tax (and/or Capital Gains Tax) at the higher (40%) rate. Can the Church recover all of this? |
| A. | No. The Church can recover tax only at the basic (22%) rate. It is however open to you to recover the other 18% when completing your Tax returns. David Finlay (phone 9042 3293) will be able to advise you how much the Church has claimed tax on and therefore how much you can enter on your Tax Return. |
| Q. | Am I right in saying that this scheme will also apply to other charities? |
| A. | Yes. One important point to watch is if you give under this scheme to several charities, the amount of tax you have paid must be at least as great as the total to be recovered by the Church and all the charities. |
| Q. | I give to several Church funds, FWO, Others, Property, United Appeal etc. Do these funds all benefit from the tax recovered? |
| A. | Yes. The amount recovered on your donations will be divided between the funds to which you have made your donations in proportion to the amounts donated. |
| Q. | My wife (husband) and I use one set of FWO envelopes which are in our joint names. Does this give rise to any problems? |
| A. | Not necessarily. If you are both tax payers, you should both sign Gift Aid forms when half of total given will be claimed in each name. If one is not a tax payer, then the full amount can be claimed in the name of the Tax payer. If you have any queries about this, please contact David Finlay (phone 9042 3293). |
| Q. | Where can I get more information on the new Gift Aid scheme? |
| A. | If you have further questions, please speak to David Finlay or telephone him on (028) 9042 3293 |