What this guide covers

This guide is for volunteers, employees and clergy who incur out-of-pocket costs in parish work in the Diocese of Shrewsbury and want to be reimbursed. It covers mileage, materials, travel, training and incidental costs. It does not cover stipends or honoraria, which are governed by separate diocesan policy and run through payroll.

The principle

The diocese reimburses genuine, necessary, evidenced expenses incurred in the work of the parish or the diocese. It does not reimburse personal costs, speculative costs, or costs without receipts. Reimbursement is the return of money spent on the parish's behalf. It is not income.

Mileage

The diocese applies the HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) rates. As at the date of this guide, the rates are:

• Cars and vans: 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year, then 25p per mile thereafter.
• Motorcycles: 24p per mile.
• Bicycles: 20p per mile.
• Passengers: an additional 5p per mile per passenger if they are also on parish business.

HMRC rates are reviewed periodically. The Finance team at the Curial Office confirms the current rate when in doubt.

What counts as a parish expense

• Mileage for parish-related travel (visits to the sick, deanery meetings, diocesan training, sacramental preparation home visits, parish errands).
• Materials for parish ministries (catechetical resources, hospitality, sacristy supplies).
• Public transport, parking and tolls when on parish business.
• Training fees agreed in advance with the parish priest, including diocesan and CSSA-required training.
• Postage and stationery used for parish work.
• Telephone calls made for parish business, where evidenced.

What does not count

• Mileage between home and a regular place of work.
• Personal subscriptions, personal devices and personal travel.
• Hospitality for personal guests.
• Training that has not been authorised in advance.
• Costs without receipts or other evidence.

The five steps to claim

1. Get the spend agreed in advance wherever possible. Significant costs (over fifty pounds for routine items, lower for some categories) need the parish priest's approval before they are incurred. Training and travel of any meaningful size always need prior approval.
2. Keep every receipt and a written log. For mileage, record the date, journey purpose, postcode origin and destination, and miles. For purchases, keep the receipt; a card statement entry alone is not enough.
3. Complete the parish expenses form. Most parishes use a single template, available from the parish secretary. Group expenses by category and date.
4. Submit to the parish priest, normally monthly. The parish priest signs off the claim. Below the parish threshold (commonly two hundred and fifty to five hundred pounds depending on parish), the parish priest can authorise reimbursement directly from the parish account. Above the threshold, the claim is referred to the Parish Finance Committee or to the Curial Office Finance team.
5. Receive payment by bank transfer from the parish account. The parish keeps the signed claim, the receipts and the log for six years for audit.

Employees, clergy and payroll

Employees of the diocese and the parish (parish secretaries, sacristans, catechetical coordinators, diocesan staff) are paid through diocesan payroll, run from the Curial Office. Expenses for employees are normally reimbursed alongside salary on the next monthly payroll run. Tax treatment of mileage and incidental expenses follows HMRC rules; the Finance team handles the calculation.

Clergy expenses are governed by the diocesan clergy expenses policy. The principle is the same: genuine costs, evidenced, agreed where required, reimbursed on a monthly cycle.

Common questions

• Can I claim for fuel rather than mileage? No. The HMRC AMAP system uses the per-mile rate. Fuel receipts are not used.
• Can I claim for the same journey twice if I travel for two ministries? No, but you can split the miles between the two ministries if helpful.
• What if a receipt is missing? A signed statement from the claimant explaining the loss may be accepted at the parish priest's discretion for small amounts. Repeated missing receipts are not acceptable.
• What about a personal item bought partly for parish use? Reimburse only the parish-use proportion, on a fair basis, with the calculation written down.
• Can I claim VAT? The parish itself does not reclaim VAT on most ecclesiastical purchases. Some heritage and listed-buildings VAT relief applies through specific schemes; the Finance team advises.

Approval thresholds

Each parish sets its own thresholds inside diocesan policy. Typical practice is:

• Up to fifty pounds: parish secretary or treasurer can process without further sign-off.
• Fifty to five hundred pounds: parish priest signs off.
• Over five hundred pounds: Parish Finance Committee or diocesan Finance team approves.

Cumulative claims that approach an annual threshold for a single individual are reviewed by the Finance team to confirm the activity is correctly classified.

Records and audit

Keep all expense paperwork for six years. The diocesan auditors can sample parish records as part of the annual audit of the Shrewsbury Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust, registered charity number 234025. Tidy records protect the parish, the volunteer and the parish priest.

Key contacts

• Curial Office, Finance team: info@dioceseofshrewsbury.org, 0151 652 9855.
• Address: 2 Park Road South, Prenton, Wirral CH43 4UX.
• Charity: Shrewsbury Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust, registered charity number 234025.

Volunteers should never be out of pocket for genuine parish work. Get the receipts, log the miles, file the claim. The system pays back what it owes.