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A step-by-step guide to registering for Gift Aid with HMRC and obtaining charitable tax recognition. Whether you're a registered charity, an unregistered charity with charitable purposes, or a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC), this guide will help make the process as straightforward as possible.
Our Gift Aid campaign is part of our Small Charities Fightback to help you secure as much funding as possible. We fail to claim more than £500m in Gift Aid every year, it's usually pretty much unrestricted funding, you can claim up to 4 years back, and every year going forward and there is evidence that Gift Aid incentives giving. But many don't know they can claim, and the process is complicated so many can't - less than 70k of the estimated 400k UK charities claim Gift Aid. Even for those that do, many don't claim all the different types they could. We're working to change that.
This guide is 1 of 4 created to support the Gift Aid Pilot built by our friends sat Charity Accounting Partners. Gift Aid Pilot is a free online system that makes claiming Gift Aid easy, and helps you to ensure you stay compliant. Watch the demo video here (43 mins). Here's our Gift Aid Essentials You Tube video (25 mins).
Join our upcoming Gift Aid webinars.
You do not have to be registered with a charity regulator to apply for HMRC charitable tax recognition and claim Gift Aid. However, where charity registration is legally required, HMRC will normally expect your organisation to be registered with the appropriate regulator.You may qualify if:
Complete the Charity Excellence Income and Finance & Resources Health Checks to identify additional Gift Aid opportunities and other charitable tax reliefs you may be missing. You can also use:
Find Funding, Free Help and Resources. Everything Is Free.
Having everything prepared before you begin can save a great deal of time.
✔ Governing document (may be called constitution, or similar).
✔ Trustee or official details, including National Insurance numbers. I've Gift Aid Registration Template to help you capture this information.
✔ Charity registration number (if applicable).
✔ Bank account details - in the organisation's name.
✔ Financial information.
✔ Summary of charitable purposes and public benefit.
The HMRC application times out after 15 minutes of inactivity. Progress is normally saved whenever you click "Save and continue", and unfinished applications are only retained for a limited period.
To claim Gift Aid and other charitable tax reliefs, you first need to register for charitable tax recognition with HMRC through the Government Gateway.
Visit Gov.UK and select "Create sign in details" if you do not already have an organisation account. Register as an organisation, not as an individual, and keep a secure record of your Government Gateway ID, password and recovery details.
Once signed in and asked which service you wish to register for, select the option relevant to charitable tax recognition and Gift Aid.
You will need:
Provide bank details and financial information for your charity. When entering bank details, use the format requested by the system. Estimated income figures should be entered without commas.
If you do not yet have a bank account, see our guide to opening a charity bank account.
HMRC will require, including names, dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers and National Insurance numbers. If anyone doesn't have a National Insurance number, there are other options (eg passport).
Your Charity Commission application will contain some of this information, but trustee telephone numbers etc are often omitted, so it is worth gathering them beforehand.
Provide your charity registration number if you are registered with the Charity Commission or another regulator.
You will need to describe your charitable purposes and explain how the public benefits.
Space is limited, so you may need to summarise the wording from your governing document.
You will need a copy of your governing document, which explains how the organisation operates and is governed. For a registered charity, that is your governing document, for CICs your articles of association and for unregistered organisations it might be called something different, such as your constitution or club rules.
If the online system does not accept a valid postcode, contact HMRC's Charities helpline for advice.
In the past, HMRC has advised some applicants to leave the postcode field blank and complete the country field instead, but system requirements can change and HMRC guidance should always take precedence.
Before submitting your application, review all information carefully.
Once submitted, keep a copy of the information entered and make a note of your HMRC Charity Reference Number. This reference will be needed whenever you contact HMRC regarding Gift Aid or other charitable tax matters.
In the past, you've always had to submit supporting documents by post to verify your application. The HMRC helpline say that this is now only required when requested by HMRC. When you get to the end of your online application, check whether you need to, or not. If you do, generally, this is what is required.
Notification of registration from the Charity Commission or another relevant regulator. This does not apply to nonprofits in England and Wales that do not have to register with a regulator.
Documents showing the charity is active, such as:
A copy of your governing document and details of any proposed changes.
If any charity official does not have a National Insurance number, HMRC may request alternative identification and proof of address.
HMRC may also ask for evidence relating to the charity's bank account.
If in any doubt, I suggest you call the HMRC charity helpline - 0300 123 1073. They also have other charity and CASC contact options.
Inevitably, it takes time to get all the information you'll need to register for Gift Aid online but actually doing so should take no more than an hour or 2. From there, it takes about 6 weeks to process most applications to register for Gift Aid. If more checks are needed or during busy periods, it may take longer.
Sports Clubs
If you're a sports club and eligible, you can register for Gift Aid as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC). You can find everything you need to decide which would be best for you, by going to my Part 1 Registration Guide and scrolling down to CASCs in Section 2.
Charities Based Outside Of The UK
If you're outside the UK, but have UK donors, it is possible to claim Gift Aid without registering a UK charity. Find out more here.
It's also possible to create a UK charity that can benefit from UK and US tax reliefs, but it must be dual qualified. That might potentially be quite useful, but I suggest you probably need a lawyer - here's more.
To check if a charity is registered for Gift Aid, it will have an HMRC charity reference number on the letter issued by HMRC confirming recognition as a charity and may also be on other correspondence from HMRC Charities. The HMRC Gift Aid reference number will start with two letters or an X and will include up to 5 numbers. In some cases, it may be written as part of a longer “Charities Reference Number” in correspondence. If you can't find it, here are some options:
Plus, 65 policy templates, 8 online health checks, the Quality Mark and the huge resource base.
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Gift Aid can be claimed not only by registered charities but also those that aren't registered, subject to certain criteria, and registering with HMRC, and also organisations, such as CICs, that are registered with HMRC as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC).
A CIC is not a charity and therefore cannot claim gift aid, unless it is a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC).
A Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) is a local, UK‑based amateur sports club that is registered with HMRC (not the Charity Commission) so it can receive tax reliefs, including Gift Aid on donations.
Completing the online registration usually takes one to two hours once you have the information ready. HMRC typically takes around six weeks to process most applications.
To claim Gift Aid and other charitable tax reliefs, a charity must register with HMRC through the Government Gateway. Registration is free.
A charity registers for Gift Aid online via the Government Gateway. There is no fee to register, and Charity Excellence provides a free step‑by‑step guide.
Form ChV1 is used by charities to tell HMRC about significant changes to their details, including changes to trustees, officers, or bank accounts.
Your HMRC charity or Gift Aid reference number is shown on the letter confirming recognition as a charity and may appear on other correspondence. It starts with two letters or an “X” and includes up to five numbers.
If the charity’s HMRC reference number is not available on its correspondence, you should contact the HMRC Charities Help Desk to confirm its status.
