Every Sunday the plate goes round, the freewill offering envelopes come in with the post, and three standing orders arrive from the bank on the same day. By the time the paying-in slip is filled in, all of it sits in one line on the statement. Nobody can tell from the cash book which gifts have a Gift Aid declaration behind them and which have none.
If you are the church treasurer this year, you probably inherited that line. This guide is about separating the streams early, so that the figure you eventually claim on can be traced back to a declaration you can produce.
Why the plate, envelopes and standing orders end up mixed
Most churches run three or four different kinds of giving at once. Each one behaves differently for Gift Aid, but the bank does not care. It records a credit. The separation has to happen in your records, and it has to happen every week, not once a year when the examiner asks.
The usual problem is that the envelope scheme and the standing orders were set up by different people at different times. One person kept a list of envelope numbers. Another person set up a standing order from a donor who was never asked to sign a declaration. Nobody wrote down which was which.
Sorting gifts by how they arrive
It helps to sort every gift into one of four groups, based on how it reached you:
- Envelope giving with a declaration. The donor has a numbered envelope and has signed a Gift Aid declaration covering their gifts.
- Standing orders from named donors. The bank payment comes from a named person. It may or may not be covered by a declaration.
- Loose plate cash. Coins and notes put in the plate with no name attached.
- One-off gifts at a service or wedding. A cheque, card or cash given for a particular occasion. A wedding fee for the use of the building is not a donation and should be recorded separately.
The groups do not need fancy names. They need to be consistent, so the same kind of money always lands in the same place in your cash book.
What may support a Gift Aid claim and what may fall under GASDS
Gift Aid lets a registered charity reclaim basic-rate tax on eligible donations from UK taxpayers, provided the donor has made a valid declaration. Currently that works out at 25p in the pound on each eligible gift, which is the basic-rate relief you will see referred to in HMRC guidance. Check the current rate on HMRC's own pages before you rely on it.
A gift needs a declaration to count. Envelope giving with a signed declaration usually qualifies. A standing order from a named donor only qualifies if that donor has also given a declaration. Plate cash with no name attached cannot be claimed under Gift Aid at all.
The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) is different. It can add a top-up on qualifying small cash donations where there is no individual declaration. It is not a way of claiming on every coin in the plate. HMRC sets conditions on which donations qualify, on eligibility, and on an annual cap. Check the current caps and conditions in HMRC's GASDS guidance before you count on any figure.
This is general information, not tax advice. Your own charity's position depends on its registration, its donors and its records. If in doubt, ask HMRC or a qualified adviser.
Nor should you assume that everything a member pays to the church is automatically eligible. Membership-style payments and any benefit a donor receives in return can change the position. Check the rules for each payment before you treat it as a donation.
Keeping envelope and donor records
A claim has to be traceable. That means you should be able to start from a line in the claim and find the declaration behind it, and start from a declaration and find the gifts it covers.
For envelope giving, keep the declaration with the envelope number and the donor's name. Record the date the declaration was signed. For verbal declarations, keep a dated note of who made the declaration and what it covered, signed or initialled by the person who took it. For standing orders, keep a copy of the donor's declaration alongside the bank mandate, and note the date the standing order started and any changes.
Keep these records for at least six years. HMRC expects Gift Aid records to be kept for that long, so store paper declarations in a dated folder and keep electronic copies somewhere that survives a change of treasurer.
Recording the plate count each week
Two people should count the plate, and both should sign the count sheet. The cash book entry for each week should record:
- the names of both counters
- the date of the count
- the total of coins and notes
- the date the cash was banked
- the amount on the paying-in slip, and the bank line it matches
If the count and the bank line do not match, note the difference and why, rather than adjusting the figure. Keep the count sheet with the paying-in slip. An examiner or a successor will want to see that the cash went from the plate to the bank without anyone's word being the only evidence.
Keep loose plate cash in its own fund or category. It should not be mixed into envelope giving, because it has a different claim position.
What a claim tool should hold for a church
If you file claims online, the tool should match the way your church gives. For Gift Aid it should hold enduring declarations, single declarations and verbal declarations, each with its date and donor. It should handle aggregated donations, where small gifts are grouped for a claim, and it should check each claim for validation errors before you send it. It should also keep a saved copy of what was sent to HMRC, so you can answer a question about a claim later.
Vasker is bookkeeping and Gift Aid for unpaid UK treasurers. On the Plus plan, Vasker holds the declarations and builds the claim, and organisations send claims to HMRC from Vasker. The treasurer or chair sends each one with the organisation's own Government Gateway login. Vasker does not store Government Gateway passwords. Sender ID and password are typed only at claim submission and discarded.
Vasker is listed by HMRC as commercial software for filing Gift Aid and charity repayment claims online through Charities Online. HMRC does not endorse or approve any software supplier. Check HMRC's list when you need to confirm this.
A tool does not guarantee a successful claim. It helps you keep the declarations and records that a claim depends on.
If you want a rough sense of what a church might be leaving unclaimed, the Gift Aid gap calculator at https://vasker.co.uk/gift-aid-gap-calculator/ is free and needs no account. It gives a planning estimate, not a claim. The £500+ a year figure you may see quoted is only an illustration for a small organisation that has never claimed. It is not a promise for any church.
Checklist for the PCC or church council
Bring these points to the next parochial church council (PCC) or church council meeting:
- Are envelope, standing order, plate and one-off gifts recorded in separate categories in the cash book?
- Does every envelope gift that is claimed have a signed declaration on file?
- Is there a dated record for every verbal declaration?
- Do standing order donors who are claimed have their own declarations?
- Is plate cash kept out of Gift Aid claims unless it is covered by GASDS conditions?
- Are weekly count sheets signed by two people and matched to the bank?
- Are declaration and count records kept for at least six years?
- Has someone checked the current Gift Aid and GASDS rules on HMRC's pages?
- Is it clear who has the Government Gateway login and who sends claims?
If most of these are ticked, the treasurer's job at the next examiner visit or handover will be much easier.