How Gift Aid increases your donations to St. Mary’s

Our church income relies heavily on donors joining the scheme.

If you make a donation towards the work of the church, you can increase your contribution, provided that you are a UK taxpayer.

What is Gift Aid?

Giving Gift Aid to St Mary'sIf you are a UK taxpayer St. Mary’s, as a registered Charity, is able to reclaim this tax on donations made by you. We can claim a tax refund of 25p for every pound that you donate. There is no extra cost to you.

How to enrol for Gift Aid?

Please contact our Gift Aid representative (click here) and we will send you a Gift Aid Declaration form. The form requires your name and address plus signature and date. It simply states that from the date of the declaration, all donations to St. Mary’s are to be considered as Gift Aid, until further notice. You are therefore able to make donations at any time and of any value to suit you. On receipt of the form, a reference number will be allocated to you that allows us to keep a record of your donations.

How do I identify Gift Aid donations?

a) Numbered envelopes in the offertory plate.
If you are a worshipper at St. Mary’s, or attend from time to time, we can send you a box of donation envelopes at the beginning of each year (use the email link to request envelopes). There is a separate envelope for each Sunday of the year stamped with your unique envelope number. There is no obligation to donate every week but many donors prefer to do so.

b) Yellow envelopes in the offertory plate.
If you are a visitor from outside the Parish or attend weddings, funerals or special services, you can use the yellow Gift Aid envelope that can be found in the church. It is essential to write your name, address and postcode on the envelope before enclosing your donation, this way we can fully claim back the tax.

c) Bank or Building Society payments.
This method can be used if you wish to make donations or to support the church as a non-worshipper. We can send you a standing order form that instructs your Bank/Building Society to make regular payments, typically monthly, quarterly or annually.

d) Single payments by cheque - payable to Shalford PCC.
Remember to write your address on the back of the cheque, and to state if the payment is for general church work, or something specific.

How is the tax reclaimed?

Before submitting a tax reclaim form to HMRC, on request we will send you a summary, for your approval, of all recorded Gift Aid donations made by you since the last tax reclaim. This summary can be filed with your self-assessment tax return as evidence of Gift Aid donations. To request further information please click here.

Leave a legacy via a will and reduce inheritance tax

Finally, if you make a will, you may wish to include a legacy to St. Mary’s. This will also reduce any inheritance tax liability. If you have an existing will, you can amend it without the need for a solicitor.
Please click here for advice on how to do this.

Gift Aid is an imaginative innovation, and full marks to the Treasury who introduced it in 2001. If you have any questions or require any forms or advice on giving, please contact us (click here).