Yes, it could if your parish currently has a majority of regular givers who aren’t eligible to Gift Aid their donations (e.g. aren’t taxpayers). In this scenario these churches may benefit more from not adopting the PGS, so they still qualify to claim the maximum amount of Gift Aid through the GASDS.

A Parish adopting the PGS and encouraging their regular givers to switch to the scheme might like to consider the following advice. In order for the Parish to both benefit from the PGS and be eligible to claim on the maximum of £8000 of small donations through GASDS the Parish should ensure that they receive a minimum of £800 in Gift Aid eligible donations outside the PGS each year. Parishes who receive less than £800 in Gift Aid eligible donations each year, however, can still claim through GASDS using the “matching rule”.

The Matching Rule

Every £10 of donations claimed under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme must be matched with £1 of donations claimed under Gift Aid in the same tax year. For example, if the total value of donations claimed under Gift Aid is £300 for a particular tax year the maximum value of donations which can be claimed under the GASDS for that tax year is £3000.