Add charity claim information

From Revenue, click Gift Aid settings under Configuration. The Gift Aid Settings page appears.

Select the Tax Claim Settings tab.

Beside Charity claim information, click Add. The Add charity claim information screen appears.

In the Reference number field, enter the unique charity claims reference number issued for your organisation. When your organisation is registered or accepted as a charity, the Charity Commission or relevant governing body in Northern Ireland or Scotland issues a unique number. You include the charity claims reference number on Gift Aid reports submitted to the Inland Revenue. Reference numbers can contain both numbers and letters and can be up to 20 characters.

In the Description field, enter a description to help identify the charity claims reference number. For example, enter an explanation of when to use the number. This description appears throughout the program where users select a reference number, such as for a declaration or an R68 process.

In the Classification field, select whether your organisation is classified as a trust or company. Your selection here determines the applicable limitation rules.

When you select "Trust," the program bases limitation rules for trusts on the tax year as defined by HM Revenue & Customs. The tax year for all trusts begins on 6 April and runs through 5 April of the following calendar year. The tax year applicable for each gift is the tax year that includes the gift date for that gift. Each unclaimed gift with a gift date that falls within the tax year ending in year xxxx, will become disqualified for Gift Aid after 31 January of year xxxx + four years. For example, an unclaimed gift from 15 May 2010 remains qualified (barring other disqualification factors) until 31 January 2015.

When you select "Company," the program bases limitation rules for companies on the tax year as defined by HM Revenue & Customs. The tax year for all companies is based on the accounting period for that company. The not-for-profit accounting period is defined by the month in which its financial year ends (as entered on the Fiscal Year End configuration task in Administration). For example, if the financial year ends in April, the accounting period runs from 1 May to 30 April of the following year. The accounting period applicable for each gift is the period that includes the date for that gift. Each unclaimed gift with a gift date that falls within the accounting period ending in the year xxxx, will become disqualified for Gift Aid after the last day of the period that ends in year xxxx + four years. For example, an unclaimed gift from 15 May 2010 remains qualified (barring other disqualification factors) until April 2015.

Regardless of your selection, the effect is that on the same day each year, all qualified unclaimed gifts within a specific time period no longer qualify for Gift Aid. The status of each gift is updated when you save the gift record, change disqualification rules, or create an Update Gift Aid Status global change definition. R68 and other applicable reports no longer show tax claim or potential tax claim amounts for these gifts.

In the Days to wait field, enter a number to represent the oral declaration waiting period. You can claim tax on a gift once the specific number of days has passed. If you do not enter a number in this field, the program assumes the sites associated with the reference number allow tax claims immediately after the confirmation letter is sent to the donor.

Note that a gift with an oral declaration that does not have a Confirmation Sent date on the declaration form does not appear on the R68 claim submission report. The same applies to a Confirmation Sent date that does not fall into the specified grace period. In accordance to HM Revenue & Customs requirements, the default number of days to wait is 30.

Tip: To set a charity claim reference number as the default for your organisation, do not assign it to any sites. You can add only one reference number without an assigned site.

In the Sites field, select the sites to associate with the reference number.

Click Save. You return to the Tax Claim Settings tab. Under Charity claim information, the new reference number and its charity claim information appear.