Getting Started with Gift Aid:

Gift Aid Declarations

The Declaration is the most important part of Gift Aid, as it records the information required by HMRC Charities (previously Inland Revenue) to allow you to reclaim the tax paid on the donations. The Gift Aid Declaration must contain the following:

1. The name of your church
   This can include acronyms, such as PCC.
2. The donor’s full name
   We recommend you obtain the donor’s full name, however first name and surname, or initials and surname are acceptable, providing individual donors can be clearly identified
3. The donor’s address
4. The donor’s postcode
5. A description of the donations to which the declaration relates
   A declaration can cover a specific gift or it can be open ended. Example descriptions are:
   • The donation of £…I made to you on dd/mm/yy
   • The enclosed donation
   • All donations I make under the direct debate mandate
     below (unlikely for the Church, but reference to an
     enclosed Standing Order form may be acceptable)
   • All donations I make on or after the date of this
     declaration
   • All donations I have made since dd/mm/yy and all
     donations I make hereafter
   • All donations I have made for the six years prior to this   year (but no earlier than 6 April 2000) and all donations   I make from the date of this Declaration until I notify you   otherwise
   Note that the Declaration will not cover any donations received outside the description used.
6. Confirmation that the donations are to be treated as Gift Aid donations
   Examples of this are:
   • Please treat my donations as Gift Aid donations
   • I want my donations to be Gift Aid donations
   • Please reclaim tax on my donations
   • I want the charity to reclaim tax on my donations
   • Tick here if you want us to reclaim tax on your
     donations [ ]
7. A note explaining the tax requirement
   This should explain clearly to donors that they must be UK taxpayers and pay sufficient tax to use Gift Aid. For example, if you want to reclaim £10 on a donation, the donor must pay at least £10 income or capital gains tax during that tax year. Example wording is:
   • You must pay an amount of income tax or capital gains
      tax equal to the tax we reclaim on your donations
   • Remember to notify us if you no longer pay an amount
     of income tax or capital gains tax equal to the tax we
     reclaim on your donations

We also strongly recommend that your Declaration also includes:

• The donor’s signature
• The date the Declaration was signed

Although neither of these are usually statutory Inland Revenue requirements, we recommend their inclusion to show that the donor authorised the Gift Aid Declaration. The Inland Revenue only require the date on the Declaration where it serves to identify that a particular donation or donations are to come within the scheme. Most of the details on a Declaration can be pre-printed. However, if there is no part on the written declaration completed by the donor, the church will find it difficult to prove that the Declaration was genuine.

Where do we get our Declarations?

Parishes in the Diocesan Scheme can obtain as many Gift Aid Declarations as required, free of charge, from Church House. Others may purchase the Diocesan Models, use the above wording, or use copies of the “Model Gift Aid Declaration” provided by the Inland Revenue. Beware that their current model has neither date nor signature. We recommend that you add these to the Declaration.

To ensure there are no problems in the future, we recommend that parishes not on the Diocesan Scheme seek Inland Revenue approval for any Declaration which they design themselves. You should keep the approval letter with your records. All those Declarations supplied by Church House have had Inland Revenue approval.

In addition to the Inland Revenue requirements, you should ensure that your Declaration satisfies any other legal requirements. If your church or project is a registered charity, the Charities Act 1993 requires you to state this. If you plan to use the information for any reason other than to reclaim tax, the Data Protection Act 1998 requires you to explain this.

To find out more information on Declarations, click on the following links:
Recording Declarations
Cancellation & amendments
The benefit rules

Or go back to
Getting started