LANDFILL TAX CREDIT SCHEME Following its introduction in October 1996, a useful source of income for Congregations intending to carry out fabric projects has been the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (“LTCS”). Unfortunately, there have been changes made to the scheme which has reduced overall the amount of money potentially available although projects falling under “Object E” are still eligible for funding. Object E covers work involving maintenance, repair or restoration of a place of religious worship or a building (or a structure) of historical or architectural interest. All Church buildings will, therefore, qualify, together with other Congregational buildings which are Listed. In addition, however, ENTRUST has indicated that projects may also be approved for work at Church Halls which can be regarded, by reason of the organisations using them, as a “community facility”. Although to qualify a building must be “open to the public” it is sufficient for it to be open only at certain times. The building to however require to be open in addition to the period of normal services. You may in addition, for example, be required to advertise your church through “Churches to Visit in Scotland”, it being free to advertise. It is also possible that, in certain circumstances, the Manse may qualify, particularly if it is a Listed building and if it could be regarded as a “community” facility by reason of meetings being held there from time to time. The Scheme is administered and regulated by ENTRUST, the Regulator of the Landfill Tax Scheme. ENTRUST’S website, which is at www.entrust.org.uk contains a large amount of information about the scheme. ENTRUST’s contact details are as follows: For general queries about ENTRUST, please contact: ENTRUST, Head Office, 6th Floor, Acre House, 2 Town Square, Sale, Cheshire M33 7WZ. Telephone 0161 972 0044 Fax 0161 972 0055 Email information@entrust.org.uk If you have any general queries in regard to the LTCS or particular projects, please contact: ENTRUST Helpline, Head Office, 6th Floor, Acre House, 2 Town Square, Sale, Cheshire M33 7WZ. Telephone 0161 972 0074 Fax 0161 972 0055 Email helpline@entrust.org.uk ENTRUST used to have a Scottish office in Paisley but, unfortunately, that has now closed. To be eligible for the scheme, it is necessary to register with ENTRUST as an environmental body. However, as there is a registration fee of £100, before proceeding to register, you should first contact a landfill site operator who has a site within the vicinity (generally within a ten mile radius) of the building where the project is to be carried out. Making contributions does have cost implications for the operator as he is only able to set off 90% of these against his landfill tax liability and such donations are capped at 6% of the operator’s tax liability. In addition, the operator is not entitled to make his contribution subject to conditions which would solely benefit him or his business. However, there is no difficulty if the body receiving contributions decides voluntarily to acknowledge the source of the funds, say, in the form of a sign outside the building or perhaps a reference in the Church magazine. Landfill sites are operated both by Councils and by private operators. You may find that some operators only agree to consider applications at certain times of the year. A register of landfill operators is maintained by HM Revenue & Customs and can be viewed at: www.hmrc.gov.uk To locate the list, you should use the search terms “list of registered landfill site operators” (including the quotation marks) in the search box. To see whether your project lies within ten miles of landfill site, you should visit the Environmental Agency website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk and look under “What’s in your backyard?” which can be found in the “Your Environment” Section. Alternatively, you can contact the Environmental Agency on 08708 506506. Once you are reasonably sure that you should be able to obtain contributions via the scheme, the next step is to register with ENTRUST. It is a relatively new requirement that, along with the application form, (which can be obtained from ENTRUST or downloaded from its website) details must be submitted of all Directors/Trustees/officeholders of the environmental body. In the case of Church of Scotland Congregations, this would require, generally speaking, the submission of details of all the members of the Financial Board which could be very timeconsuming. To avoid this, ENTRUST has agreed that it would be in order for the Financial Board to set up a subcommittee which would operate as a specific “ENTRUST” Committee and which would apply to be the environmental body and to handle all matters relating to the tax. There is annexed for ease of reference a “dummy” version of the application form. There is also annexed a suggested remit for the ENTRUST Committee. As you will note from the form, it has been agreed with ENTRUST that Church of Scotland Congregations do not require to submit a copy of their Constitution. There is a procedure in terms of which landfill tax can be processed via a local tax trust known technically as a distributive environmental body These are organisations which help others to access landfill tax credits. If you go through such a body, you do not require to register yourself. Again, a list of distributive environmental bodies can be accessed via the ENTRUST website. It is worthwhile checking out whether there is such a body operating in your area as they can offer advice on other source of matched funding. Indeed, many of these trusts do not require the 10% contribution to be made. Details of the project also require to be registered with ENTRUST by completing a project registration form. Both the enrolment form and the project registration form can be submitted to ENTRUST at the same time or, alternatively, it is possible to enrol first and then have a project approved subsequently. Once an environmental body has been enrolled, it is free to apply for an unlimited number of additional projects from time to time. It is hoped that this information will be helpful to your congregation in securing benefits from the scheme. Obviously, however, if you have any queries or if there are any other points on which you require advice, you should not hesitate to be in touch with the Law Department. ENTRUST Form 1 submission Head Office 6th Floor Acre House 2 Town Square Sale Email: information@entrust.org.uk Cheshire Fax: 0161 972 0055 M33 7WZ Tel: 0161 972 0044 The ‘EB Manual’ is available at www.entrust.org.uk and offers useful and comprehensive guidance on organisations eligible to enrol. If you have any questions about filling this form in, please contact ENTRUST through the methods above. Please complete in black, using block CAPITALS, and keep a copy for your records. Stage 1 Applicant Name & Address 1) Name of the organisation ????? 2) The organisation's trading name if different from the one above ????? Stage 2 Main Contact Details of the Main Contact for this Environmental Body 1)Title (Mr, Mrs, Ms etc) ????? 2) Forename* ????? 3) Surname* ????? 4) Role in the Environmental Body ????? 5) Telephone number ????? 6) E-mail address ????? Contact address to which communication to the organisation will be sent, if different to the Registered Address 7) Address line one ????? 8) Address line two ????? 9) Address line three ????? 10) Town ????? 11) County ????? 12) Post Code ????? The main or registered address of the organisation if different from the above. 13) Address line one ????? 14) Address line two ????? 15) Address line three ????? 16) Town ????? 17) County ????? 18) Post Code ????? 19) The registered office's main phone number ????? Further details of the main communications: 20) Fax number ????? 21) Home Address 1* ????? 22) Home Address 2 ????? 23) Home Address Town ????? 24) Home Address County ????? 25) Home Address Country ????? 26) Post Code* ????? 27) Occupation ????? 28) Employer's name ????? 29) Date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy) ????? 30) Are you employed / serve as a Cllr within a Local Authority:* Yes No 31) Are you employed by a Landfill Operator:* Yes No 32) Date appointment started (dd/mm/yyyy) ????? 33) Are you involved in the management of the environmental body Yes No Are you a director/board member or trustee Yes No Are you a PCC member or ‘another’ contact Yes No Are you a project/financial manager for the environmental body Yes No Stage 3 Corporate Information 1) What is the organisation incorporation type. Please tick one from the following list. A Chartered Company A Church Company with Share Capital Company limited by guarantee A Partnership A Statutory Body An Unincorporated Association Other (please state incorporation type) ????? 2) Registered company number if applicable ????? 3) The date the organisation was incorporated or established (dd/mm/yyyy e.g 04/04/2004) ????? 4) Does the organisation have charitable status? Yes No 5) If a charity, the charity number is ????? What works do you wish to undertake with the LTCS contributions you receive: 6) Object A To remediate land which is contaminated. 7) Object B The remediation of pollution to land or water 8) Object D To provide or maintain a general public amenity 9) Object DA The conservation of Biodiversity at a specific site 10) Object E The restoration of a church or another historic building 11) Object F To undertake services for other environmental bodies 12) The organisation's financial year end day is (dd) ????? 13) The organisation's financial year end month (mm) ????? 14) Will LTCS monies be used to pay for any of the organisation's administration costs? Yes No 15) The organisation must be 'not for profit'. Does the organisation operate on this basis? Yes No 16) Is the organisation is VAT registered? Yes No 17) If VAT registered its registration number is ????? 18) Does the organisation have a documented voting procedure within its governing document (if yes, underline in the constitution) Yes No 19) Does the organisation have a documented dissolution clause within its governing document (if yes, underline in the constitution) Yes No 20) Does the organisation have a documented statement that it will not distribute any profits within its governing document? (if yes, underline in the constitution) Yes No 21) Is the organisation owned in whole or in part through a holding company of a Local Authority or Landfill Operator? Yes No 22) Does the organisation's governing document detail the appointment and removal of directors? Yes No 23) Can a Local Authority or Landfill Operator acting on their own form a majority on the board or management committee? Yes No 24) Will you be sending ENTRUST the most current version of the organisations governing documents Yes No 25) According to the organisation's governing documents, what is the actual number of people required to be present to make a management/board/executives meeting for it to be quorate (please enter a number the minimum being 2) ????? 26) Please confirm the number of directors/trustees/elders who make up your organisations management committee. ????? Stage 4 Directors/Trustees/Elders Details Please photocopy this sheet before completion to enable you to submit all your Directors / Trustees information. Director details are required by ENTRUST and you should list below all current serving directors or trustees. Note: ENTRUST does not disclose any individuals details to any third party or organisation. Details of a Director or Trustee Title (Mr, Mrs, Ms etc) ????? Forename* ????? Surname* ????? Telephone number ????? Extension number if applicable: ????? Fax number ????? E-mail address ????? Secondary tel number we may contact you on: ????? Mobile phone number ????? Home Address 1* ????? Home Address 2 ????? Home Address Town ????? Home Address County ????? Home Address Country ????? Post Code* ????? Occupation* ????? Employer's name ????? Date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy e.g 04/04/2004)* ????? Employed / serve as a Cllr with a Local Authority Yes No Employed by a Landfill Operator Yes No Date appointment started with management committee (dd/mm/yyyy e.g 04/04/2004)* ????? Is this person involved in the management of the Environmental Body? Yes No What is the role of this person in this EB? ????? Does this person have a right to vote in a committee meeting Yes No Stage 5 Other Contacts Please photocopy this sheet before completion to enable you to submit all other contacts information. These are people who are involved in the organisations finances, administration or management. Details of another Contact Title (Mr, Mrs, Ms etc) ????? Forename* ????? Surname* ????? Telephone number ????? Extension number if applicable: ????? Fax number ????? E-mail address ????? Secondary tel number we may contact you on: ????? Mobile phone number ????? Home Address 1* ????? Home Address 2 ????? Home Address Town ????? Home Address County ????? Home Address Country ????? Post Code* ????? Occupation* ????? Employer's name ????? Date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy e.g 04/04/2004)* ????? Employed / serve as a Cllr with a Local Authority Yes No Employed by a Landfill Operator Yes No Date appointment started with management committee (dd/mm/yyyy e.g 04/04/2004)* ????? Is this person involved in the management of the Environmental Body? Yes No What is the role of this person in this EB? ????? Does this person have a right to vote in a committee meeting Yes No Stage 6 Declaration To the best of my knowledge and belief, the information on this form is true. I am authorised by: [Name of the organisation] ????? to sign this declaration. Your signature In capitals, please: Your name ????? Your job title ????? Date ????? Checklist Have you: Kept a copy of this form for your records? Included a copy of your constitution with the relevant clauses underlined? Enclosed a cheque for £100, made payable to ENTRUST, to pay your application fee? Enclosed your last approved annual report and accounts OR The organisation is newly formed and we can not include these SUGGESTED REMIT FOR ENTRUST COMMITTEE The Congregational Board AGREED that to facilitate the obtaining of funding via the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme a new Committee of the Board would be constituted as follows:- 1. The Committee will be named the Entrust Committee of the Congregational Board. 2. The Committee will consist of 5 members, namely the Minister, Session Clerk, Treasurer, the Clerk to the Board ex officiis and one further member of the Board as nominated by the Board from time to time, 2 being a quorum. The minister or in his absence one of the remaining members as appointed by the members then present shall act as Convener. The Committee shall meet from time to time as required. 3. The Committee shall have powers to register itself as an Environmental Body for the purposes of obtaining funding via the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme for projects connected with the congregation, to source the funding, deal with all necessary compliance and monitoring obligations required by Entrust and to take all other steps generally in connection with the funding. 4. The Committee shall report to the Congregational Board on a regular basis on its work. It was further AGREED that Mr A B would be the nominated member of the Committee. (jsw1348) 1 11