How To Register for Gift Aid as a Charity - HMRC Registration

A step by step guide on how to register for Gift Aid as a charity or CASC, making HMRC registration as pain free as possible.  In addition to how to register your charity for a Gift Aid number, I've included how to find your HMRC charity reference number and their Gift Aid help line contact number at the bottom.

This is one of 4 guides we have for claiming Gift Aid – the Gift Aid Rules you need to know, 19 different ways to claim charity Gift Aid and simple steps to maximise your Gift Aid.

Who Can Register For Gift Aid With HMRC

You don't need to be a registered charity to register for a Gift Aid number.  Unregistered charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) can also register to claim Gift Aid.

• You’re established for charitable purposes only, registered with the Charity Commission or another regulator, run by ‘fit and proper persons’, and recognised by HMRC.
• You can still claim Gift Aid if your charity is not registered with a charity regulator as long as you have a governing document with exclusively charitable objects/purposes (what your charity does) and, generally, in England and Wales, your annual income is under £5,000 pa.
  • This isn't as complicated as HMRC makes it look and.
  • If you're not sure, the HMRC charity contact number is below and.
  • If you don't have a governing document, we have a simple toolkit to quickly create one.
• A Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) that is recognised by HMRC.
  • A CASC is not a legal structure, it is a tax status granted by HMRC.
  • Consequently, an organisation such as a CIC can claim Gift Aid if it is registered as a CASC.

Here's the detailed HMRC guidance for a charity to be given recognition for tax relief and also for CASCs. There is also the Association of Community Amateur Sports Clubs (ACASC), a CIC that offers specialist compliance advice, guidance and practical support to help clubs understand and meet HMRC CASC rules )some free, some paid for).

How To Maximise Your Gift Aid Claims & Find More Funding

Complete the 30 min online health checks for Income and Finance & Resources to find if you're claiming all the types of Gift Aid you could be, plus all the other charity tax reliefs.  Plus, use Funding Finder, to find a huge range of grants and Help Finder to find lots of free fundraising support and companies that make donations.

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Register Your Charity Via The Government Gateway

However, to claim Gift Aid and other charitable tax reliefs, you first have to register with HMRC, via the Government Gateway.

Go to Gov.UK and click on the ‘Create sign in details’ link. You need to register as an 'Organisation', not yourself. Make sure you make a note of your Government ID number, password and recovery word. Simply follow the instructions.

Once you're in the HMRC system and it asks you what services you wish to register for, select 'Other' for Gift Aid.

Charity Online Gift Aid Registration

The online registration system times out after 15 minutes.  You can close your browser at any time, but your progress will only be saved up to the point where you last clicked ‘Save and continue’ and an unfinished application is only stored for 28 days. I've found that the best way to avoid losing any data is to have all the information to hand before I begin. Most of this will be in the pdf the Charity Commission sent you on submitting your registration.

• Bank account details and financial accounts. Here's my guide to opening a free charity bank account. When entering your details, enter the sort code using the format shown on screen (45-67-89, not 456789) and don't put a comma in your estimated annual and actual income to date this year (10000, not 10,000).
• Officials’ details, including dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers and National Insurance numbers.
  • If the system refuses to accept a postcode, stating it's not valid. Leave the postcode box blank and enter your country in the country box instead (eg England).
    • I know it's the box to complete for an overseas address, but it works. Yes, I know that's silly, but it's what HMRC told me to do the first time it happened to me.
  • If you're like me and like things done properly, paste your postcode into line 3 of the address section.
  • Your Charity Commission copy of your application contains trustees' details, but not their phone numbers and the HMRC portal won't let you proceed without these, so have them to hand.
• Registration number if you’ve registered your charity with a regulator.
• Charitable objectives (sometimes called purposes) and benefits.

You are limited to 500 characters for each of the above, so may need to summarise down what's in your governing document.

• Governing document (sometimes called a rulebook) - this explains how your charity is run.

Once complete, a page will display that shows you everything you've entered. It's a good idea to copy and paste this into a Word document, so you have a record. I also suggest making a record of your HMRC Reference Number, which you'll be given in the final screen.

How to Register for Gift Aid - Documentation

Once you've submitted your online application to register for Gift Aid, you'll be given an HMRC reference number, which you should add to copies of the documents below, to be sent to HMRC by post, within a set timescale.

• Registration - notification of registration from your regulator.
• Evidence of activities - basically, HMRC is looking for you to demonstrate that you actually exist (anti-fraud), so you could send documents, such as a business plan, minutes of trustee meetings, evidence of funding applications/donations, brochures or even a flyer, if that's all you have.
• Governing document and any proposed changes.

If you’re missing any National Insurance numbers, remember to post a copy of each persons’ passport photograph page, along with proof of their home address.

The final screen no longer asks you for the supporting bank account details, but I suggest that you send these as well - Bank statements (3 months). If your bank account has been open less than 3 months, provide evidence from the bank that the account is open, such as the bank letter notifying you of this.

HMRC Gift Aid Contact Number

If in any doubt, I suggest you call the HMRC charity helpline - 0300 123 1073.  They also have other charity and CASC contact options.

How Long Does It Take To Register for Gift Aid?

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.

Alternatives to Charity Gift Aid Registration

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.

How Do I Notify HMRC Of Changed Details - Form ChV1

Remember to advise HMRC of any subsequent significant changes in your charity details using ChV1. These relate primarily to changes in officials and bank account details - find out more here.

How Do I Find my HMRC Charity Reference Number?

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:

• Sign in to HMRC Charities Online using your Government Gateway credentials.  Once logged in, your Gift Aid reference is shown in your account details or when starting a claim.
• If you’ve submitted Gift Aid claims before, the reference is on the claim confirmation pages, claim receipts, and any payment advice from HMRC.
• If you still can’t find it, call HMRC’s Charities Helpline on 0300 123 1073 (Mon–Fri, UK office hours).  You’ll need your charity name, postcode, and possibly your HMRC customer account details to confirm your identity.

HMRC Gift Aid Guidance

• Get recognition from HMRC for your charity.
• Donating to Charity - Gift Aid.
• Claim Gift Aid Online.
• Charities: change of details form (ChV1)

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Gift Aid and HMRC: FAQs