Use Your Tax to Help Your Parish

Each year Parishioners in Ennis pay approximately €700,000 towards Parish Finances. Without it costing one euro more, this amount could be increased significantly through the ‘Scheme of Tax relief for Donations to Eligible Charities’. In other words, our Parish can benefit from tax you have already paid, at no extra cost to you. Tax paid by you can remain with the Revenue Commissioners, or it can be reclaimed by way of refunds to any eligible charity, including our Parish.

How Does it Work?

To qualify, you must be paying tax in Ireland and contributing at least €250 Euro to Parish funds (That’s less than an average of €5 per week). There is no upper limit.

The Charitable Donation Scheme operates under the provisions of section 848A Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997. This section provides for a uniform scheme of tax relief for donations to approved bodies. The legislation provides that donors who are PAYE or self-assessed may also donate their personal tax relief in respect of charitable donations to the charity / approved body, should they wish to do so. For the purposes of the Charitable Donations Scheme (CDS) a donation is grossed up at the rate of 31%. The approved body is deemed to have received the grossed-up amount net of tax deducted. It is important to note that a donor is not entitled to a repayment of any part of the tax that has been repaid to the approved body under this scheme.

See example:

Joan makes a cash donation of €1,000 to an approved body in the tax year 2022. Under this scheme the body is deemed to have received a donation of €1,449.27 (€1,000 grossed up at 31%) less tax deducted of €449.27. Joan has signed an Enduring Certificate to allow her tax relief to be donated to the charity. If Joan has paid income tax for 2022 of at least €449.27, the approved body can obtain a refund of that amount. This can be claimed after the end of the tax year 2022. The amount repaid to an approved body cannot exceed the amount of tax paid by the donor for the year in question. If Joan’s income tax liability for 2022 is €350, and she has paid this amount, the repayment to the approved body is restricted to that amount. Joan is not entitled to a repayment of any part of the tax that has been repaid to the approved body.

What Do You Need to Do?

At present the Parish keeps a record of all identifiable contributions, e.g. Weekly Envelopes, Priests’ Collection, etc. If you wish to help the Parish Finances you must complete the enclosed form and forward it to the Parish Office or put in the collection box/basket at Mass. Further information is available from the Parish Office Tel. 6824043. Or on Parish Website: http://parish.ennis.ie