Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire

Secretariat - FINANCIAL

Gift Aid Collection

The Grand Secretary / Scribe E has had a number of enquiries recently from members of the Craft who have asked whether it is permissible for their Lodge / Chapter to reclaim tax on the monies donated for charitable purposes in the collection which is routinely conducted at either the end of a Lodge / Chapter meeting or at the dinner. The technique generally proposed is for the whole collection to be “assigned” to a member of the Lodge / Chapter who has taxable capacity sufficient to enable him to reclaim tax on it as if he had donated the entire amount personally. An extension of this idea is also to treat in a similar manner monies which are paid for raffle tickets, and similar fund-raising initiatives.

The Grand Secretary / Scribe E advises “It is entirely wrong for donations to be treated in this way, and could constitute the commission of a criminal offence on the part of any member allowing himself to be used to gain financial advantage by a false declaration.

It does not matter that the aim stems from an entirely laudable desire to direct as much money as possible to charitable purposes, as the law is completely clear on the issue, and the suggested technique is not permissible.

I should, therefore, be grateful if you would draw the attention of the appropriate Brother / Companion in your Lodge / Chapter who has the responsibility for any form of collection, that under no circumstances may this practice be adopted or continued. Further, Gift Aid must not be claimed on monies paid for raffle tickets.

Please also ensure that all members are warned that if they should already have undertaken to reclaim tax on donations given by others in the course of completing Tax Returns for the fiscal year just ended, they must under no circumstances do so”.