Charities Online gives charities the option to add together small donations up to a total of £1,000 per entry. This means you do not have to provide details for individual donations (although you can do so if you prefer). The limit for donations is £20, but in early April 2019 the HMRC website indicated that this had been increased to £30. HMRC has now reversed the change which it claims was made in error.

Charities making use of the aggregated donations mechanism had welcomed this change so this update from HMRC will be disappointing. However, while this appears to be a logical uprating of the threshold,  it is not something previously announced by the Government and did come as somewhat of a surprise when announced. This change may be something that CTG can call for in future Budget submissions and it would be useful if charities that would support an increase could contact us at info@charitytaxgroup.org.uk and say why the changes would help them and explain the practical benefits.

The recent increase in the eligible donation value for the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS), from £20 to £30, is separate from this and has not been changed.

Aggregated donations

You can ‘aggregate’ (add together) donations of £20 or less from different donors and show them as one entry on the spreadsheet. The total donation on one line cannot be higher than £1,000 and the total cannot include donations associated with admissions to charity visitor attractions.

To claim Gift Aid on aggregated donations, do not enter the name and address of individual donors as this will slow down your repayment claim. Instead you must enter:

• a simple description like ‘Thursday club donors’ in the ‘aggregated donations’ box (maximum of 35 characters)
• the date of the last donation
• the total amount raised

Only add together donations that were made within the same accounting period. Your accounting period ends on the date to which you prepare accounts, unless your organisation was set up by a trust deed or will or was established outside the UK. In those cases, your accounting period runs to 5 April.