Operating a Gift Aid Scheme

Making a claim

Diocesan Scheme parishes should see details on the Donations Received report, completing this report, and Diocesan Scheme claim forms, instead of this page.

You should not make a claim for any donation unless and until a Gift Aid Declaration is in place. Non Diocesan Scheme parishes should receive the required forms from HMRC Charities (formerly Inland Revenue) at Bootle. You will need:

• R68 (2000) – the main claim form, lilac in colour.
• R68 (New Gift Aid) – on which details are entered of Gift Aid donations.

Firstly, you should complete the R68(New Gift Aid) form, one for each tax year to be claimed. There are some instructions on the form itself. Ensure you fill in your parish’s HMRC Charities reference number. There should be an entry on the form for each Declaration for which you are making a claim. Put the donors in alphabetical order. Enter the total donations for each donor and the date on which you received the last donation from the donor. For regular envelope givers, this will often be the last Sunday in the period. However, not everyone will have attended and given on that Sunday! For Standing Order givers, this date will not be a Sunday.

Because some people give by more than one method, and to more than just the General fund, you may need to summarise the claim for each donor in your records, before you enter the amounts on the HMRC Charities form. For example:

Once all the donors are listed, on the back of the form, at A, enter the total donations received. You can then calculate the tax to be claimed, using the calculation given on the form. This will be

Total Donations x __current basic rate of tax___
                             100 – current basic rate of tax

You should check your arithmetic before you send off the claim forms.

Next, complete the R68(2000) form. It is fairly self explanatory. Things to note are as follows:

• Ensure the label on the form is correct.
• Part 1: Transfer the total calculated tax into box 2 on the form. Put the total in box 4. Answer the question at 5.
• Part 2: Question 2 – the church is a company for tax purposes. The date the accounts period ends should be 31st December.
• Part 3: This gives you an opportunity to have the tax paid directly into your bank account, or to have the cheque sent to a different address. You must complete 1 and 2.
• Part 4: This declaration must be completed in full by an HMRC Authorised Signatory of the church. To find out more about the Authorised Signatory, click here.

You should photocopy all the forms in case of a query from HMRC Charities. Send the forms to the address given on the R68(2000). You should receive your repayment cheque/transfer in due course.