HMRC is now sharing more and better information with the Charity Commission, Andrew Edwards, head of charities at HMRC, said yesterday.

Edwards was giving evidence to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Draft Protection of Charities Bill when he said that following the National Audit Office report into the Cup Trust tax avoidance scandal the revenue had taken fresh legal advice which has led to an improvement in the amount of data being shared.

“Before we were only sharing details about charities, now we share details about people,” with the Charity Commission.

He said: “There has been a significant increase in the amount of data sharing. I think we are working particularly well together at the moment.”

Edwards also gave his backing to the new powers for the Charity Commission contained in the bill, which he said would "definitely" be needed.

Joint registration update

Edwards also said that he expected a portal for joint registration between HRMC and the Charity Commission “by April 2016”.

He also said that the portal “will be available to the regulators in Scotland and Northern Ireland”.

“The new system help to weed out inappropriate charities as we will be able to pass information backwards and forwards before we make a final decision,” he explained.