Gift Aid Declarations: What Your Church Needs to Keep

What every declaration must include

HMRC lets you design your own declaration, as long as it contains:

• your church’s name
• the giver’s full name
• their home address, or at least their house name or number and postcode
• which gifts it covers: one gift, or all gifts from now on, with or without the past 4 years
• a statement that they want Gift Aid to apply, such as a ticked box
• an explanation that they must pay enough UK tax to cover all the Gift Aid claimed on their gifts that year

A bare “I am a UK taxpayer” isn’t enough on its own. HMRC’s model wording covers all of this, and it’s the safest place to start. No signature is needed.

One person per declaration

A declaration in joint names, such as “Mr & Mrs Smith”, isn’t valid. Neither is one in a company’s name. Couples can share a form if each person is named in full, and each then counts as a separate giver.

For a joint bank account, you can usually treat a gift as coming from whichever account holder made a declaration. If both have, ask them how to split it.

Paper, online and email declarations

Paper forms and Gift Aid envelopes are the most common. Online declarations work too: a ticked box on a web form, an email or a text message are all acceptable evidence.

Typing someone’s details into a database isn’t evidence by itself. Keep the original form, email or online record, and note where it’s kept.

Spoken declarations need a letter

Someone can make a declaration in person or over the phone, as long as it covers the same details. Unless you keep a recording, you must then send them a written confirmation.

That letter or email repeats the declaration and the tax explanation, and tells them they can cancel within 30 days. You can’t claim any of their gifts until it’s been sent. If they cancel within the 30 days, it’s as if the declaration was never made.

Covering the past four years

An ongoing declaration can cover gifts from the last 4 years as well as future ones. When a regular giver signs one, check their earlier gifts: you may be able to claim on them too, if they’re still within the deadline.

When someone cancels or moves

A giver can cancel an ongoing declaration at any time. Gifts from the date they tell you can’t be claimed, but earlier ones aren’t affected. Record the cancellation and its date.

HMRC’s model form asks givers to tell you if they change their name or address. Update their details for future claims, but keep the declaration evidence as it was made.

How long to keep declarations

Keep a declaration for as long as it’s in use, then for 6 years after the last gift it covered. If HMRC opens an enquiry, keep everything until it’s finished.