Income Tax Act 2007 section 538

Requirement to make claim

Section 538 establishes that charitable trusts must generally submit a formal claim to HMRC in order to benefit from the tax exemptions available under Part 10 of the Act.

• Most tax exemptions available to charitable trusts under Part 10 require a formal claim to be made to HMRC before they can be applied.
• Two exemptions do not require a claim: the exemption for transactions in deposits (section 534) and the exemption for offshore income gains (section 535).
• Claims can be made during the tax year (for example, to obtain repayments of income tax on Gift Aid payments) or through a self-assessment return.
• A charitable trust only needs to complete a tax return and make associated claims if it is chargeable to tax or if HMRC specifically requires it to do so.