Revenue urges charities to sign up to new online service

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is urging those charities which have claimed Gift Aid in the last three years to sign up for the new Charities Online service. Charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) can use the new electronic service to claim Gift Aid tax repayments, reclaim tax on other income, and claim a top-up payment under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS). There are three options for making a claim using Charities Online. Option one, which involves completing an online form, can be used to submit a Gift Aid repayment claim or a GASDS top-up. The second option allows those filing Gift Aid claims (generally for more than 1,000 donations) to send claims directly from their own internal database, while the third option allows claims to be made using a new paper repayment claim form, or ChR1.

The new online system aims to make the process of claiming faster, simpler and more efficient. Under the system, those taking part in a sponsored event may have their individual donations listed as a single entry under their name, replacing the need to list every donor individually where there are fewer than 10 donors. In addition, the limit for aggregated donations will increase, allowing claimants to add together individual Gift Aid donations of £20 or less, up to a total of £1,000 per entry. As of the 30th September 2013, HMRC has stopped accepting Gift Aid repayment claims on form R68(i).