Church Links

You may be paying more VAT then you need to!

Overview

(See also our notes on the possible areas of VAT savings.)

If your Church has charitable status (and most do either in their own right or as part of their denomination) you may be able to make a saving on some of the VAT that you pay.

What you’ll need in order to claim the VAT relief

To get VAT relief you’ll have to provide your supplier with evidence that you are a charity (or where appropriate another eligible body such as a Church) and a written declaration or ‘certificate’ confirming this.

Evidence of charitable status

If your Church is registered with the Charity Commission it is entitled to charity VAT relief. If your Church is not registered with the Charity Commission, for example if you’re exempt from registration with the Charity Commission, then you must be formally recognised as a charity by HMRC for tax purposes. In order to claim VAT relief, therefore, you must be able to provide your supplier with either:

• your Charity Commission registered charity number
• evidence that you’ve been formally recognised by HMRC for tax purposes

You will not be able to make a saving on VAT in every area, although it is always worth asking a Supplier if they have a Charitable rate.

For further reading, look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/vat/intro.htm: VAT guidance for charities and not-for-profit Organisations.

Below are listed the areas that we are aware of, where you may be able to make savings. We have more detailed notes on these possible savings.

• Advertising and goods associated with donations
• Equipment for producing talking books and newspapers
• Building Work
  • Construction of buildings
  • Maintenance of Listed Buildings
  • Installation of energy-saving materials in buildings
• Fuel and power