# €50,000 VAT bill on fundraisers’ efforts criticised

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/02/08/50000euros-vat-bill-fundraisers-efforts-criticised/
- Published: 2008-02-08T09:50:57+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Small pennies and ‘widows might’ was the biggest contributory factor in wiping 
out a €360,000 debt for new stained glass windows installed at St. John’s Church
in Waterford. The additional cost of paying a €50,000 VAT bill, however, has been
strongly criticised by local fundraisers. As the final installment of €71,874 was
handed over following the Vigil Mass in the Parnell Street Church the elderly parishioners
were lauded for their generosity while the government was attacked for giving with
one hand and taking with another. In addition to the hefty bill which fell largely
on the elderly parishioners they had to come up with over €50,000 in VAT which went
straight into the coffers of central Government. That money corresponded almost 
to the last cent to the amount that the fundraising committee received by way of
financial support from Waterford City Council. “In effect between local and national
Government we ended up getting nothing because we had to pay VAT at the rate of 
21%”, said Kathleen O’Hagan, chairperson of the fundraising committee. Calling on
the Government to eliminate VAT on restoration and conservation work carried out
on heritage sites and listed buildings she said that we should be following the 
lead of British prime Minister Gordon Brown. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he eliminated
VAT on work carried out on heritage buildings. “How can our old houses, churches
and castles survive,” when the government has to get its share of what is spent 
on them?” asked Kathleen O’Hagan. Without the generosity of the people of St. John’s
parish and well wishers around the city and county it would not have been possible
to wipe out the debt in just two-and-a-half years,” she added. Ms O’Hagan went on
to say that a deliberate decision was taken not to include any ‘black-tie’ events
in the fundraising campaign. They also deliberately kept away from events costing
€50 or more simply because the parishioners could not afford them. “In everything
that we ran we took into account what the parishioners could afford. They committed
€2 a month for two-and-a-half years and the window boxes which were mainly filled
with cents helped to raise thousands,” said Kathleen. “In a way it brought us back
to a time when the smallest amount of money was valuable and in our case cents turned
into thousands of Euro.”

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