Resetting a Gift Aid claim reopens it in infoodle. The claim status changes back to Started, and all donations in the claim are released so they can be included in a future claim.
You would usually reset a claim if it was filed by mistake or if you need to correct information before submitting the claim again.
Resetting cannot be undone. Once donations are released, they can be claimed again. If those donations have already been submitted to HMRC, including them in another claim would create a duplicate claim.
When should I reset a Gift Aid claim, and what are the risks?
Reset a claim only if it was filed in error or needs to be corrected and resubmitted. Resetting returns the claim to Started status and releases all donations for future claims. Because the action cannot be undone, there is a risk of accidentally claiming the same donations twice if they have already been submitted to HMRC.
Before you start
Role Permissions
- Access to Finance area
- Manage, Read and report on transactions
For an explanation of what each permission does, see Finance Permissions.
You will also need the following.
- Gift Aid must be turned on for your site. You can check this under Administration → Packages & Views, in the Gift Aid for UK Charities row.
- Your login must not be a cluster member. Anyone with the Is a member of a cluster permission can look at claims but cannot reset one, whatever their other finance permissions are.
- The claim must already have a status of Filed to HMRC.
Reset only works on a claim that has been filed
Every claim except one that is still waiting for the previous claim to be filed has an Action menu, and every one of those menus lists Reset Claim .... That includes claims with a status of Draft and Finalised. A claim that is still waiting has no Action menu at all.
Seeing the option does not mean it will work. Reset only acts on a claim whose status is Filed to HMRC. If you choose it on a Draft or Finalised claim, infoodle simply returns you to the Gift Aid Claims list. Nothing changes, and no message is shown.
What resetting changes
When you reset a claim, infoodle does all of the following at once.
- Status: the claim goes back to Started.
- Filed details: the date filed and the name of the person who filed it are cleared.
- Donations: every donation in the claim is unlinked from it, so those donations become available to claim again.
- Over claim adjustment: any adjustment amount and its description are cleared.
- HMRC response and receipt: these are shown on the claim only while its status is Filed to HMRC, so after a reset they are no longer displayed.
- Xero invoice details: if your site is connected to Xero, the invoice number and link recorded against the claim are cleared. The invoice itself stays in Xero.
The donations themselves are not changed or deleted. Only their link to this claim is removed.
Save what you need before you reset. The HMRC response and receipt for a claim you have already made are on screen only while the claim is still Filed to HMRC, and the over claim adjustment cannot be read back off the claim afterwards. Export the claim, copy the HMRC response, and write down the adjustment amount and its description first. Step 2 below covers all three.
Resetting does not tell HMRC anything
This is the most important thing to understand about resetting.
Reset only changes the claim inside infoodle. It sends nothing to HMRC, and it does not withdraw, cancel or amend a claim that HMRC has already received.
So if the claim was genuinely filed to HMRC, HMRC still holds it after you reset. If you then claim the same donations again and file, HMRC receives them twice.
If you need a claim that HMRC already has to be corrected or withdrawn, contact HMRC directly. Resetting in infoodle is not a substitute for that.
Reset a claim
Step 1: Open the claim you want to reset
- Click or hover on Finance on the main menu bar on the left, then click Gift Aid.
- Click Claims.
- Find the claim you want to reset in the list.
- Check that its status is Filed to HMRC.
- Click Action at the right of that row.
- Click Reset Claim ....
The claim opens on its own screen with its donations listed. That screen is headed Gift Aid Claims, the same heading as the list you have just left, so check the claim details rather than the heading to be sure you have moved.
Step 2: Check the claim and keep a copy of it
- Check the Period start and Period end dates shown at the top of the screen.
- Check the date the claim was filed and who filed it, shown beside those dates.
- Look through the list of donations underneath. These are the donations that will be released.
- Check the totals at the foot of the list. If the claim runs to more than one page, Page Total covers only the page you are looking at.
- Click Export, then to CSV, and save the file. This is your record of which donations were in the claim.
- Copy the HMRC Response shown at the top of the screen into your own records.
- Use the links beside it to open the full HMRC submission and response, and copy anything you need to keep.
- Write down the over claim adjustment amount and its description, if the claim has one.
If this is not the claim you meant, click Claims in the left menu to leave. Nothing is changed until you click Reset.
Step 3: Reset the claim
- Read the warning on the screen, which ends in There is no undo!.
- When you are sure, click Reset.
- You are returned to the Gift Aid Claims list.
- The claim now shows a status of Started.
- Its Records count now shows 0, and Value and Claim both show £0.00.
- Its Date filed and Filed by are now blank.
The figures on the claims list are worked out from the donations currently linked to the claim, and the reset released all of them. Nothing has been deleted, and the figures come back when you review and save the claim.
After you reset
Review and save the claim you reset before you open any other claim.
The donations you released are not held for this claim. They go back into the pool of donations waiting to be claimed, and whichever claim you save next picks them up. If you go and save a different claim first, your released donations end up in that one.
When you review and save the claim, infoodle rebuilds it from every donation that is claimable at that moment, not from the donations it held before. So it can come back larger than it was, for example if a Gift Aid approval has been added since. That is usually what you want, but it means the claim you re-file is not necessarily the claim HMRC already holds. Check the list of donations and the total before you file.
- Click Action on the claim you reset.
- Click Review ....
- Make your corrections. The usual ones are a donor whose Gift Aid approval was missing or had the wrong dates, or an address that was wrong.
- Check the list of donations and the total against the copy you exported.
- Click Include an adjustment, if the claim had an over claim adjustment.
- Enter the adjustment amount and its description.
- Click Save beside the adjustment.
- Click Save at the top of the claim.
- Click as Final.
- File the claim to HMRC again.
as Final is offered only while the claim has no errors. If any remain, infoodle shows a link to the Errors tab so you can clear them first. See Valid Field Formats.
Common questions
Will resetting a claim change my other claims?
The other claims keep their own status. The donations you released are not held for this claim though, so whichever claim you save next will pick them up. Review and save the claim you reset before you touch any other claim.
Can I undo a reset?
No. There is no undo. If you reset the wrong claim, review and save it again to rebuild it, then file it again.
Does resetting cancel the claim at HMRC?
No. See Resetting does not tell HMRC anything above.
Will HMRC be told that I reset the claim?
No. Nothing leaves infoodle when you reset. See Resetting does not tell HMRC anything above.
I chose Reset Claim on a draft claim and nothing happened. Why?
Reset only acts on a claim that has been filed. On a Draft or Finalised claim infoodle returns you to the claims list without doing anything and without showing a message. If you want to remove a claim that has not been filed, delete it instead.
Does resetting delete the donations?
No. The donations stay exactly as they were. Resetting only removes their link to this claim, which is what makes them available to claim again.
Why does the claim show 0 records after I reset it?
Because the record count and the money columns on the claims list count the donations linked to the claim, and the reset released all of them. The donations are safe. Review and save the claim and the figures come back.
What happens to an over claim adjustment?
It is cleared, along with its description, and you cannot get it back from the claim afterwards. Note down both before you reset so you can enter them again.
I use Xero. Does resetting cancel the invoice?
No. Resetting clears the invoice number and link that infoodle recorded against the claim, but the invoice itself stays in Xero. Once you file the claim again, Create Invoice comes back on the claim, and it has no memory of the first invoice, so take care not to raise a second one for the same claim.
Why can I not see Reset Claim on any claim?
You need both Access to Finance area and Manage, Read and report on transactions, and your login must not be a cluster member. Gift Aid also has to be turned on for your site.
Next steps
Once the claim is corrected, work through Filing to HMRC to send it again.