HM Revenue & Customs is trialling a digital service to allow charities to register with them to claim tax relief.

Charities must register separately with the Charity Commission and with HMRC. Charities must be registered with HMRC to claim gift aid and other tax reliefs. Up until now they have had to do so using a paper form, ChA1, but a digital alternative is now being explored.

HMRC and the Commission have said they will move towards a joint registration process by 2015.

HMRC last year launched a service called Charities Online to allow charities to claim tax relief digitally.