LANDFILL TAX CREDIT SCHEME

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1 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 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 Fax 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 Fax helpline@entrust.org.uk ENTRUST used to have a Scottish office in Paisley but, unfortunately, that has now closed.

2 2 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:- 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 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 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/office-holders 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 time-consuming. To avoid this, ENTRUST has agreed that it would be in order for the Financial Board to set up a sub-committee 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.

3 3 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.

4 4 1 Applying to enrol as an environmental body (an EB) ENTRUST Form 1 submission Head Office 6 th Floor Acre House 2 Town Square Sale information@entrust.org.uk Cheshire Fax: M33 7WZ Tel: The EB Manual is available at 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 This is the full legal na organisation You only need to com if your trading name is to the name 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) 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 If your organisation is company then this will be address as registered w Companies house.

5 5 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:* 31) Are you employed by a Landfill Operator:* 32) Date appointment started (dd/mm/yyyy) 33) Are you involved in the management of the environmental body Are you a director/board member or trustee Are you a PCC member or another contact Are you a project/financial manager for the environmental body 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

6 6 established (dd/mm/yyyy e.g 04/04/2004) 4) Does the organisation have charitable status? 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) These are non specific project 13) The organisation's financial year end month (mm) monies not actually spent on pr 14) Will LTCS monies be used to pay for any of the organisation's administration costs? 15) The organisation must be 'not for profit'. Does the organisation operate on this basis? You can not make profits and them to directors or shareholde ENTRUST will check this at th your application 16) Is the organisation is VAT registered? 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) 19) Does the organisation have a documented dissolution clause within its governing document (if yes, underline in the constitution) Please ensure your organisat give the monies upon dissolut organisation with similar object

7 7 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) 21) Is the organisation owned in whole or in part through a holding company of a Local Authority or Landfill Operator? You can not make profits and them to directors or shareholde A Landfill Operator or a Local can not own your organisation or in part. 22) Does the organisation's governing document detail the appointment and removal of directors? A Landfill Operator or a Local can not appoint or remove di the organisation 23) Can a Local Authority or Landfill Operator acting on their own form a majority on the board or management committee? Neither of these parties can majority on your board 24) Will you be sending ENTRUST the most current version of the organisations governing documents 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) This is the number of people to be at a meeting to ensure th is quorate. This figure will be governing document. 26) Please confirm the number of directors/trustees/elders who make up your organisations management committee.

8 8 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. te: 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 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 Employed by a Landfill Operator 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? What is the role of this person in this EB? Does this person have a right to vote in a committee meeting

9 9 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 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 Employed by a Landfill Operator 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? What is the role of this person in this EB? Does this person have a right to vote in a committee meeting

10 10 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

11 11 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)