# Over 50,000 charities using Charities Online for Gift Aid

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/02/13/50000-charities-using-charities-online-gift-aid/
- Published: 2014-02-13T12:10:02+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

HMRC has announced that more than 50,000 charities have now signed up to use Charities
Online, the online system introduced in April 2013 to make it easier for charities
and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) to receive the Gift Aid on their donations.

This leaves just under 20,000 charities who claim Gift Aid not yet using the system,
which became the only option for claiming Gift Aid since October last year.

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

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“We estimate that [Charities Online](http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/online) has
reduced the time it takes us to process these repayments by around 25%. 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.”

## Charities Online: the numbers

 * The online system has, says HMRC, reduced the time taken to process payments **
   from 29 days**, when it was a paper-based system, **to nine**.
 * So far,  **over £380 million** in Gift Aid repayments have been processed by 
   the online system since April 2013.
 * The **biggest claim made online so far by a single charity has been for £3.7 
   million**.
 * The busiest time for the service so far was early September 2013, when **nearly
   30,000 charities or CASCs visited the site in one week**.
 * HMRC receives **about 187,000 Gift Aid claims a year** from approximately **70,000
   separate charities**, representing **about 23 million individual Gift Aid donations**.
 * Gift Aid payments are part of the **£4 billion in dedicated tax reliefs** that
   charities and their donors received in 2013, according to Nicky Morgan, Economic
   Secretary to the Treasury.

 

**About Charities Online**

Charities Online was introduced in April 2013 and in October that year became the
only approved method of making Gift Aid claims. It is designed to make Gift Aid 
reclaims quicker and easier for charities. There are [two options for making Gift Aid claims online using the Charities Online service, plus a paper option](http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/online/three-options.htm).

 

Notes for editors

 

1.

 

3.  .

 

4. Charities can get information on how to use Charities Online at.

 

5. Follow HMRC on Twitter @HMRCgovuk

 

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

 

Resource Links

 

Three options for making claims using Charities Online Charities Online: making 
your Gift Aid repayments quicker and easier

 * **[Gift Aid on donated items raised £4.5 million for Sue Ryder in 2014](https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/04/28/gift-aid-on-donated-items-raised-4-5m-for-sue-ryder-in-2014/)**(
   28 April 2015)
 * **[Fraudsters jailed for claiming fake Gift Aid repayments](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/01/13/fraudsters-jailed-claiming-fake-gift-aid-repayments/)**(
   13 January 2016)
 * **[JustGiving claims back Gift Aid after HMRC clarification](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/07/26/justgiving-claims-back-gift-aid-hmrc-clarification/)**(
   26 July 2016)