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September 2000, Page 4.
Index of articles.
Money:
index,
C of E 1999,
Gift Aid,
Missions.
In this issue:
(September 2000)
Vicar's Letter,
Ephesus,
Gift Aid,
Question,
Common Worship.
Gift Aid Donations
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has changed the way that covenants and Gift Aid donations work from 6th April 2000, so we are taking the opportunity to publicise the system. If you pay income tax, please sign a Gift Aid Declaration so that we can recover some of the tax you have paid.
Here is how the whole system works. Imagine your income (pay or pension or whatever) is like a piece of Battenburg cake:
Your gross income |
Before you get it, the Inland Revenue takes a slice of it away. The first bit isn’t taxed at all, but the rest is subject to taxation:
Your personal allowance |
Your taxable income |
and a certain percentage of it goes to the Government:
Your personal allowance |
The taxman takes |
You keep |
If you sign a Gift Aid Declaration and give money to the church, like this:
Your personal allowance |
The taxman takes | |
You keep |
You give | |
then the Government will give to the church the part of its slice which matches the part which you gave to the church, like this:
Your personal allowance |
The taxman takes |
The taxman gives |
You keep |
You give |
It really is money for nothing - or, to put it another way, it is the Government’s way of saying that it wants to support charitable giving by allowing people to direct some of their income tax to charities.
However, in order to make it work, (i) you need to sign a form, and (ii) you need to give in a way which is traceable (i.e. by cheque or standing order or money in a Freewill Offering Envelope). The Government won’t just take our word, they need an audit trail.
Here are some questions which people ask about the scheme:
Q. Do I need to promise to give a certain amount?
A. No. It’s not like the old covenant scheme, when you did have to promise a fixed amount.
Q. Do tax at the 10% rate, and tax on Building Society interest count?
A. Yes, they both do.
Q. Shouldn’t Christians support the state by taxation (Rom13:7)?
A. Yes - but the state has the right to use tax revenue to support charities, and this is how it does so.
Q. Where do I get a form?
A. From Evelyn Hinchliffe.
John Hartley