Claim tax back on donations using Charities Online

Question

Accepted Answer

Your charity, community amateur sports club (CASC), nominee, collection agency or authorised agent can use Charities Online to claim tax repayments for:

Gift Aid
other income eg bank interest
top-up payments under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)

A nominee is an individual or an organisation who you authorise to submit Gift Aid or other tax repayment claims on your behalf.

A collection agency receives donations to your charity and Gift Aid declarations via their website. The agency will claim Gift Aid that it receives for your charity on eligible donations on your behalf.

An authorised agent is someone who acts on your behalf, eg, your accountant, tax agent or adviser.

Register for Charities Online

To make a claim using Charities Online, you鈥檒l need to log in to your HMRC Online Services account using your user ID and password.

If you do not have an account, you鈥檒l need to register online.

To register for an HMRC Online Services account you鈥檒l need to:

Go to HMRC鈥檚 Online Services home page and select 鈥榬egister鈥�.
Select 鈥榮ign up for HMRC Online Services鈥�.
Select 鈥榦rganisation鈥�, which takes you to the 鈥榥ew user鈥� page.
Select 鈥榗harities鈥� and go to the next page.

You鈥檒l then need to enter your charity鈥檚 or CASC鈥檚:

postcode
HMRC reference (up to 5 numbers, starts with 1 or 2 letters)
customer account number (add a zero to the start if it鈥檚 9 digits) or the last 4 digits of your bank account number if HMRC recognised you as a charity or CASC before April 2013

Once you鈥檝e accepted the terms and conditions and entered your name and email address, you鈥檒l need to create a password. Your password must be between 8 and 12 characters (letters and numbers) and cannot contain the word 鈥榩assword鈥�.

You鈥檒l then be presented on screen with a unique, 12-digit user ID number and you鈥檒l also be asked to enter your charity鈥檚 details.

Make a note of both your user ID number and your password and keep them safe. You鈥檒l need them to access HMRC Online Services.

Activate your Charities Online account

After you鈥檝e registered, you will receive an activation code, which takes around a week to arrive. You must use this code within 28 days.

Log in to HMRC Online Services using your user ID and password, and you鈥檒l see 鈥楥harities鈥� listed as one of the 鈥榮ervices you can use鈥�. You鈥檒l then need to:

Select 鈥榓ctivate service鈥�.
Enter your Charities Online activation code.
Select 鈥榓ctivate鈥�.

If you鈥檝e logged in to use HMRC Online Services in the past, the date and time that you last logged on will be shown.

If the date and time shown is incorrect, report this to HMRC immediately by selecting 鈥榦nline security鈥� and following the steps provided.

Make a claim

To access Charities Online and start making a claim for repayment, sign in to your Charities Online account and go to the page called 鈥楽ervices you can use鈥�.

From there, select 鈥榓ccess service鈥� (next to 鈥楥harities鈥�), then 鈥榤ake a charity repayment claim鈥� where you鈥檒l be asked questions about the type of claim you鈥檙e making.

When you鈥檝e filled in details of your claim, you鈥檒l be asked for more information about your charity or CASC on a page titled 鈥楢bout the organisation鈥�.

On the 鈥楢bout the organisation鈥� page, only charities that are managed by a trust company, a trust corporation or a trust department of a bank, should answer 鈥榶es鈥� to the question 鈥楢re you a corporate trustee?鈥橽u003c/p>

You鈥檒l then be asked to fill in the 鈥榬epayment claim details鈥� page. This is where you can tell HMRC about donations to your charity or CASC that you can reclaim tax on. You can send these details in a document called a schedule spreadsheet.

Use a schedule spreadsheet to tell HMRC about donations for:

Note that you can only claim using the GASDS for donations collected after 2013.

When you鈥檝e filled in the appropriate schedule spreadsheet, you鈥檒l need to save it on your computer.

You鈥檒l need to attach it to the Charities Online form by selecting 鈥榖rowse鈥� or 鈥榗hoose file鈥�.

You may also file your claims electronically using your own Gift Aid database if it鈥檚 suitable for making online claims.

You do not have to use the same method every time.

If you log out or you鈥檙e timed out during the claim process, your details will be saved. When you log in again, you鈥檒l be asked if you want to continue.

If you do, you鈥檒l be taken to the stage you reached earlier. To delete a claim, select 鈥榗ontinue with charity repayment claim鈥� and then 鈥榙elete鈥�.

You鈥檝e completed your repayment claim when each stage of the claim process shows a green tick on the 鈥榬epayment claim summary鈥� page. At this point, you can select 鈥榥ext鈥� and go to the 鈥榙eclaration page鈥� to finalise your claim.

Submit your claim

When you submit a claim, you鈥檒l get an on-screen confirmation with the date and time it was sent. You鈥檒l also see a reference number. Make a note of it. You can use it if you need to contact HMRC about the claim but it鈥檚 not a confirmation of payment.

Make a top-up claim for Gift Aid or a small donation

With a Charities Online account, you can submit a Gift Aid or small donation top-up claim using an online form.

You can claim on up to 1,000 Gift Aid donations at a time by completing and attaching an HMRC schedule spreadsheet to the online claim form. The spreadsheet should contain details of your donations. You can only complete one online form at a time, which you must submit before making a new claim.

You can save unfinished claims and return to them at any time within 30 days.

Aggregated donations

Charities Online gives you the option to add together small donations of 拢20 or less, up to a total of 拢1,000 per entry. This means you do not have to provide details for individual donations (although you can do if you prefer).

You鈥檒l still need to keep details of all donations for your own records in case HMRC needs to check your claim.

Using your own database

If you regularly make claims on donations made by more than 1,000 Gift Aid donors, you could purchase your own Gift Aid database. Your claim will be processed quicker.

There鈥檚 no limit to the number of claims you can submit. For example, if your annual claim contains 6,000 donations, you can submit 6 claims online with up to 1,000 donations on each claim form.

You can also make a claim for a top-up on small donations through your own database. You鈥檒l be able to send a maximum of one claim per day directly from your database. The maximum number of Gift Aid donors that can be included in a file created by a Gift Aid database is 500,000.

To claim through your own database, you鈥檒l need to develop your own compatible software or buy compatible software from a provider. HMRC has published a list of compatible commercial software.

You can claim using more than one method at the same time. So you could use Gift Aid software to claim tax on donations and use HMRC鈥檚 schedule spreadsheets for claiming tax deducted from other income that you鈥檝e received.

Agents, nominees and collection agents

Charities Online allows agents, nominees and collection agents to make repayment claims on your behalf.

They can file your Gift Aid, GASDS or 鈥榦ther income鈥� repayment claims electronically using HMRC鈥檚 schedule spreadsheets or their own software.

Agents, nominees and collection agents can only claim for your charity or CASC if you鈥檝e informed HMRC that they鈥檙e authorised to represent you.

You鈥檒l need to tell HMRC that an individual or organisation is authorised to make a claim on your behalf by completing form ChV1. Save the application form (ChV1) on your computer and complete it on screen. Include the agent鈥檚 details in the 鈥楥hanges to the nominee and collection agency details鈥� section. Then print it, sign it and send it to the address on the form.

Registration for agents, nominees or collection agents

Agents, nominees and collection agents must sign up for HMRC Online Services before registering for the Charities Online.

They鈥檒l need to log in to Online Services and add 鈥楥harities for Agents鈥� to their portfolio from the 鈥楽ervices you can add鈥� section of 鈥榊our HMRC services鈥�, then:

Go to the HMRC homepage and select 鈥楻egister (new users)鈥� under the 鈥楧o it online鈥� section.
Follow the link to 鈥楽ign up for HMRC Online Services鈥� in the section 鈥楽ign up to send returns using HMRC Online Services鈥�.
Select the 鈥楢gent鈥� option and follow the on-screen instructions.

HMRC will acknowledge this authorisation and send your agent, nominee or collection agent a unique agent reference number and a customer account reference number. To enrol they鈥檒l need to use these 2 reference numbers and their postcode.

HMRC will send the reference numbers when you鈥檝e told them that you have authorised an agent, nominee or collection agent to make claims on your behalf.

HMRC will post an activation code to your agent, nominee or collection agent within 7 days. They must activate the service within 28 days of the date on the letter.

The agent will need to submit an online claim within 30 days of starting it. If they do not make your claim within this time, any information on the partially saved claim will be deleted, and they鈥檒l need to start again.

Receiving payment

Claims made via Charities Online are normally paid within 20 working days of HMRC receiving the claim. HMRC will send you a written confirmation that a payment has made into your bank account.

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