Download the SRE Tax Deductible Gift Receipt form.
The Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT administers a DGR fund (Deductible Gift Recipient fund) authorised by the ATO to receive tax deductible donations for the purpose of supporting Special Religious Education (SRE) in government schools.
Most commonly grants from this fund pay (or reimburse the church where payment has already occurred) for:
- SRE student materials
- SRE teacher lesson preparation materials
- Payment of SRE teachers wages (this is more likely to take the form of reimbursement to the church for stipend related expenses for the time church pastoral staff have spent preparing for lessons and teaching SRE classes).
As the tax deductibility of donations paid into the SRE in Schools DGR fund are only of value to entities and persons actually paying tax, it makes no sense for churches to directly donate into this fund. Rather what is envisaged is something along the lines of the following scenario.
The church normally pays $5,000 pa purchasing GodSpace teacher and student resources, as the church coordinates SRE in their local Primary School.
With this in mind, the church Treasurer approaches Mr Smith within the church congregation with the request that he reduce his regular offering to the church by $3,500 pa and instead make a $5,000 donation to the “BUNSW SRE in Schools” fund. Assuming a 30% marginal tax rate for Mr Smith, he will receive a tax refund of $1,500 for his $5,000 donation on his next tax return.
When making the donation Mr Smith identifies the church conducting the SRE ministry that he wishes his donation to support. When process a request for a grant from the “BUNSW SRE in Schools” fund, administration staff will confirm that sufficient donations (designated to support SRE conducted by the requesting church) have been received before approving a grant from the SRE fund.
There is no financial benefit to Mr Smith from this arrangement, but the church ends up with an additional $1,500 in its budget to fund the ministry of the church (ie the church’s income has reduced by $3,500, but it hasn’t had to fund the purchase of $5,000 in SRE materials – net benefit of $1,500).
Call the Baptist Ministry Centre in office hours on 02 98689220 or download the SRE Tax deductible gift advice form, attach your cheque and mail to the address shown on the form.