To Gft Aid, or maybe not ...

You know I'm not one to moan, but ...

Well, you know when you give money to a charity, you'll normally be asked to Gift Aid it. Now all our regular giving in this way is Gift Aided. But for a one-off gift, I have to remember the amount given as I have to include it on my tax form.

What happens is we're in a meeting and the 'offering' comes round and we're invited to put it in an envelope so it can be gift aided. But the organisation isn't going to write to me with a written record - so I have to remember to make a note. That may not seem too onerous, but when they come every evening for the duration of the Baptist Assembly, it's not as easy!

So we tend not to gift aid one-off gifts as it's not as simple as the charity would like us to believe! I've never heard them remind us to keep a note of what we give for tax purposes...

And then there's the bit we have to fill in on the envelope. I would have had to sign to say, "My tax bill this year will be more than the tax reclaim on this gift." As that envelope was given out in the first month of the new tax year, how can I be sure that statement will be true? And it seems to assume this is the only money I will gift aid this year, because in fact my tax bill has to be greater than ALL the gifts I gift aid.

Well, I'm happier now I have that off my chest! And I KNOW the Lord loves a cheerful giver, so let me just say we give cheerfully enough, it's just that gift aid bit ...