50,000 charities now use Charities Online to claim Gift Aid

More than 50,000 charities have signed up to Charities Online, which makes it quicker and easier for charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) to receive the gift aid on their donations.

The online system means that charities can claim their Gift Aid online, which is much more efficient than the previous system of posting paper forms to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This has reduced the time taken to process payments from 29 days to nine.

Currently, over 50,000 organisations out of 70,000 that claim Gift Aid have registered online, and these charities have so far received over £380 million in Gift Aid repayments through Charities Online since the system was launched in April last year.

Nicky Morgan, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“The government values the important work of charities in our society, and we want charities to maximise their donations. In 2013 charities and their donors received £4 billion in dedicated tax reliefs from the government.

“I am pleased that over 50,000 organisations have registered to use this service, which will speed up the rate that charities can access donations.” 

Caroline Taylor, Director of Finance at the street children charity Toybox, said:

“We estimate that Charities Online has reduced the time it takes us to process these repayments by around 25 per cent. The repayments for our online submissions have been paid into our bank account between four and seven days after submitting the claim online. Our experience of processing Gift Aid claims through HMRC Online has been very positive.”

The biggest claim made online so far by a single charity has been for £3.7 million. The busiest time for making claims was early September last year, when nearly 30,000 charities or CASCs visited the site in one week.

Charities Online has been the only option for claiming Gift Aid since October last year.

Notes for editors

1. HMRC receives about 187,000 Gift Aid claims a year from approximately 70,000 separate charities, representing some 23 million individual Gift Aid donations.

2. Gift Aid increases the value of donations to charities and CASCs by allowing them to reclaim basic rate tax on such gifts.

3. There are two options for making Gift Aid claims online using the Charities Online service, plus a paper option. Details are at www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/online/three-options.htm .

4. Charities can get information on how to use Charities Online at www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/online.

5. Follow HMRC on Twitter @HMRCgovuk

6. HMRC’s flickr channel www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk