Is your church a listed building? If so, you may be able to claim back VAT for repairs, maintenance and building work related to the church building via a government grant scheme. You can reclaim VAT, without the complexity of registering for VAT.
What is the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme?
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme is run by the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) until at least March 2025.
The grant scheme reimburses the eligible VAT you paid when paying suppliers for repairs, building works or maintenance. This means you can get back up to 20% of your costs on expenditure allowed under the scheme.
Who can apply for the grant scheme?
Your church, chapel or meeting house must be listed – you can find a register of listed buildings here. If you are a Church of England church, you might want to contact your Diocese for advice.
You must be using the listed building as a place of public worship at least 6 times a year.
What are the benefits of the grant scheme?
The great thing is that your charity does not need to be registered for VAT to claim under the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. While registering for VAT as a charity is complex and can be a burden, the grant scheme is completely separate.
The government pays the money out to you as a simple grant. In addition, the grant paid isn’t restricted, so you can allocate the income to any fund you choose.
The application process is simple (see below) and there is no limit on the number of claims you can make.
Which costs can I claim for?
The grant scheme covers different types of costs for both external and internal features of the building. When applying for the scheme, you can claim a VAT refund for the following costs:
- Repair work to the building – plumbing, electrical, clocks and bells, drainage
- Building work or alterations – renovation, decoration, windows
- Maintenance – pest control, organ tuning, security and crime prevention
- Professional services – planning, surveying, architecture fees, advisors, inspectors
See a full list of costs you can claim for (and can’t claim for) on the scheme website.
You can only claim to get VAT paid back under the scheme if the contractor or supplier you used was VAT registered. The invoices you submit as part of the claim must show the VAT amount.
Invoices must be from within the last 12 months. In addition, you can’t get VAT reimbursed for your costs if you can claim VAT refunds via any other method or grant scheme.
How do I apply for the scheme?
You can apply and submit claims under the scheme via the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme website either by completing the form online or downloading and emailing or posting a form and documentation.
You will need to enter the relevant information and provide invoices as evidence for the VAT you paid and are claiming for.
You can submit claims at any time and there is no limit to the number of claims you can make.
However, there is a minimum claim amount. The value of invoices (excluding VAT) for any one claim must add up to at least £1,000. However, once in every 12-month period you can submit a claim between £500 and £1,000 (excluding the VAT).
The government has committed to run the scheme until at least March 2025.
How can ExpensePlus help?
ExpensePlus is an easy-to-use cloud-based fund accounting package, that is used by hundreds of churches across the UK. It is rated 4.8 out of 5 stars on Google with over 800 user reviews.
The software enables teams to work remotely and provides staff with accurate, up-to-date, drillable financial reports. The features in ExpensePlus can help you easily and quickly create claims for the grant scheme:
- Documentation in one place – all your invoices are stored securely online, and you can download them to create your claim
- Search all purchases – use this function to easily search for relevant descriptions of works you can claim for
- Category connectors – use this feature to connect relevant expense categories and track expenses you can claim for
- Transaction groups – to tag/group purchases which may be eligible for reclaiming
When you receive the money from the grant in your bank account, you can simply account for this as income. It should not be coded as a refund or negative expenditure. The grant money is not restricted, even if the funds you spent were restricted, which means you can allocate them to any fund.
ExpensePlus is fully customisable and comes with brilliant help and support. You can sign up for a free trial at expenseplus.co.uk.
