Gift Aid · v 1.15.22

HMRC Gift Aid, on autopilot.

Sky Gift Claim builds valid R68 claim batches from your SkyDonate donations, validates every donor against HMRC rules, and submits directly via GovTalk XML: with an immutable audit trail and zero manual re-keying.

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  • HMRC Registered Vendor
  • GPL-licensed · full source
  • Used on the Winter Appeal
wp-admin · Gift Aid → Batches
Batch #27 · 2025–26 tax year
April Claim Winter Appeal
Ready to send
Eligible
312
Gift Aid value
£4,218.75
IRmark
Verified
Eligible donations312 (84%)
Needs repair38 (10%)
Excluded (non-UK / £0)22 (6%)
Total claimed to date: £21,440.00
Recognised by HMRCSky Gift Aid is listed on GOV.UK as a recognised Charities Online commercial software supplier.View on GOV.UK
UK Gift Aid left unclaimed annually
£ 0 M+
Every eligible £1 becomes £1.25
0 %
Donations per auto-chunked batch
0
Manual steps to submit a claim
0
Why Sky Gift Claim

Gift Aid is free money. Most charities leave it on the table.

Manual processes, incomplete donor data, and HMRC submission complexity add up to millions in unclaimed Gift Aid every year. Sky Gift Claim removes every one of those blockers.

The problem

Spreadsheet roulette

Manually exporting donations, matching donor addresses, and formatting CSVs for HMRC Charities Online takes hours every claim cycle: and errors are hard to catch before submission.

Address validation gaps

HMRC rejects claims with bad house numbers, missing postcodes, or commas in the wrong field. Finding these issues after a rejection wastes weeks of back-and-forth.

Tax-year boundary confusion

Donations spanning the 6 April boundary must be split into separate batches. Getting this wrong triggers HMRC rejections and delays your payout.

No audit trail

Knowing exactly which donations were in which submission: and what HMRC responded is critical for compliance and HMRC enquiries. Most charities don't have it.
The Sky Gift Claim solution

Fully automated batch building

WP-Cron assembles batches monthly or weekly. Donations are auto-chunked at 500, split at the 6 April boundary, and ready to submit in a single click.

Built-in eligibility engine

Every donor is validated against HMRC's Non-Form Validation Rules before submission. Problem rows surface in a "Needs Repair" queue with inline address autocorrect suggestions.

GovTalk XML + IRmark

Submissions go directly to HMRC's Transaction Engine as signed GovTalk XML with a correct SHA-1 IRmark. No third-party portal, no manual re-keying, no intermediaries.

Immutable audit trail

Every request and HMRC response is persisted to a write-once audit log. Exportable as CSV. An R68GAD .ods schedule is auto-generated per sub-claim for your HMRC files.
Claim flow

Five steps from donation to HMRC payout.

The whole process runs inside WordPress. No portals, no spreadsheets, no third-party middlemen.

01

Donations collected

SkyDonate records the Gift Aid opt-in alongside every qualifying donation. Sky Gift Claim reads this data without touching SkyDonate's schema.
02

Eligibility check

Each donor is validated against HMRC's Non-Form Validation Rules. Failed records surface in the Needs Repair queue with Google Address suggestions.
03

Batch auto-builds

WP-Cron assembles batches monthly or weekly: chunking at 500 donations and splitting automatically at the 6 April tax-year boundary.
04

GovTalk submission

One click sends the signed GovTalk XML to HMRC's Transaction Engine. The plugin polls automatically until HMRC acknowledges or returns an error.
05

Donations collected

SkyDonate records the Gift Aid opt-in alongside every qualifying donation. Sky Gift Claim reads this data without touching SkyDonate's schema.
What's inside

Built for production. Tested against HMRC.

Sky Gift Claim is production-grade built to the same engineering standards as SkyDonate, with 100+ unit tests and full HMRC sandbox certification before going live.

Sky Gift Claim · v 1.15.22

Sky Gift Claim: everything HMRC needs, nothing you don't.

A read-only consumer of SkyDonate’s data that builds, validates, and submits Gift Aid claims directly to HMRC: with encrypted credentials, an immutable audit log, and WP-CLI support for automation pipelines.

Eligibility engine

HMRC Non-Form Validation Rules, address repair queue
XML

GovTalk XML + IRmark

SHA-1 signed, polled to acceptance automatically

Auto batch-building

WP-Cron monthly/weekly, 500/batch, 6 April split

Immutable audit log

Every request + response, CSV + R68GAD .ods export

Encrypted credentials

libsodium secretbox, key in wp-config.php
CLI

WP-CLI commands

build · submit · poll
Raised across charities
£ 0 M+
Unit tests
0 +
HMRC environments
0
Writes to SkyDonate
0
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WP-CLI · sky-gift-aid
# Build a new batch from eligible donations
$ wp sky-gift-aid build
312 eligible  38 needs-repair  22 excluded
Batch #27 created tax year 2025–26
# Submit to HMRC Transaction Engine
$ wp sky-gift-aid submit --batch=27
GovTalk XML built, IRmark verified
Submitted correlation: TX-2026-04-27A
# Poll until HMRC responds
$ wp sky-gift-aid poll
Status: ACCEPTED
Gift Aid claim: £4,218.75 approved
Audit bundle written R68GAD.ods ready
Admin screens

Five purpose-built admin pages.

Everything your Gift Aid manager needs gated behind the manage_gift_aid capability so only the right people see it.

Dashboard

Live overview of eligible donations, claimable Gift Aid value, recent submissions, and any donations stuck in the Needs Repair queue: refreshed on every page load.

Batches

Filterable, paginated batch index with CRM-style batch detail pages. Tabs for Donations, Sub-claims, Needs Repair, Submissions, Payment notes, and an inline address-repair tool with Google Address Validation.

Submissions

Full submission history with status, GovTalk correlation ID, and HMRC response. One-click re-poll for stuck items. A daily watchdog cron flags any submissions that haven't resolved within 48 hours.

Audit Log

Write-once, immutable log of every GovTalk request and HMRC response. Exportable as CSV. Each accepted submission auto-generates a pre-filled R68GAD .ods schedule for your files and HMRC enquiries.

Settings

HMRC Gateway Sender ID, password, CHARID, Vendor ID, and Authorised Official details: all encrypted using libsodium secretbox with the key stored in wp-config.php. Switch between LTS, ISV, and LIVE environments safely.

Refund Listener

Monitors WooCommerce refund events and automatically flags previously-claimed donations for an R68 adjustment in the next batch keeping claims accurate without any manual intervention from your team.
Integrations

Works with your existing stack.

Sky Gift Claim is a read-only consumer of SkyDonate data. No new payment flows, no schema changes: it slots into what you already have.

SkyDonate
SkyDonate
Vector
WooCommerce
gift aid uk logo
HMRC Gift Aid
stripe
Stripe
wordpress
WordPress
Technical spec

What's under the hood.

Plugin version 1.10.2 stable
WordPressRequires 6.4 tested to 6.7
PHP8.1 , 8.2 , 8.3
Depends onSkyDonate (active, v 4.0+) · WooCommerce (active, HPOS-compatible)
HMRC submission GovTalk XML · CHAR-CLM schema · SHA-1 IRmark
HMRC environments LTS (dev) · ISV (HMRC integration testing) · LIVE (production)
Credential storage libsodium secretbox · encryption key in wp-config.php
Batch limits 500 donations/batch · automatic tax-year split at 6 April
WP-CLI wp sky-gift-aid build · submit · poll
Cron schedule Monthly batch build · weekly option · daily watchdog for stuck submissions
Capabilitymanage_gift_aid gated separately from standard WP admin roles
Schema4 plugin-owned tables · zero writes to SkyDonate or WooCommerce schema
ExportsCSV (audit log + submission history) · R68GAD .ods schedule per sub-claim
LicenceGPLv2 or later full source code, no obfuscation
Licensing

Annual licence. No kill switch.

Same model as all our plugins: per-site licence, updates through WP admin, plugin keeps working after expiry.

Requirements

Must-have
SkyDonateActive · v 4.0 or later
WooCommerceHPOS-compatible, 8.x+
WordPress 6.4 – 6.7
PHP 8.1 , 8.2 , 8.3
HMRC registrationCharity must be HMRC-registered for Gift Aid

Licence & support

Annual
Licence term 12 months, auto-renews unless cancelled
UpdatesDelivered through the WordPress admin updater
SupportEmail & portal, 24-hour response on business days
After expiry Plugin keeps working; updates & support stop
Onboarding White-glove setup: install, config & HMRC ISV sandbox test run
FAQ

Gift Aid questions, answered.

Yes. Sky Gift Claim works alongside SkyDonate and reads donation and Gift Aid data directly from your existing WooCommerce orders. SkyDonate must be installed and configured on the same WordPress website.

Yes. Claims are submitted directly from your WordPress site to HMRC’s Transaction Engine using the official GovTalk XML protocol. No third-party submission service is involved.

The plugin automatically detects WooCommerce refunds and includes any necessary Gift Aid adjustments in the next HMRC claim, eliminating the need for manual tracking.

The plugin checks donor addresses against HMRC validation rules and highlights records that need attention. Optional address validation tools help correct issues before submission.

Yes. Sky Gift Claim supports development, HMRC integration testing (ISV), and live production environments, allowing you to verify your setup before submitting real claims.

Yes. Alongside detailed and aggregated Gift Aid donations, it builds GASDS top-up claims (up to three claim years), connected-charities declarations, community-building claims and GASDS adjustments, managed from the Non-GAD Items screen.

No. Your donor information, donations, and HMRC credentials remain on your own server. The plugin communicates directly with HMRC and only performs licence validation with Sky Web Design.

Simply update your credentials in the plugin settings. They are securely encrypted when saved, and future submissions will use the updated information.

Yes. Credentials are encrypted before being stored and are only used when securely communicating with HMRC’s systems.

Sky Gift Claim is built for UK charities and non-profit organisations that collect donations through WooCommerce and want to automate HMRC Gift Aid claims accurately and securely.

Yes. As well as detailed donor lines, it can build aggregated Gift Aid lines that group small donations (up to £1,000 per line) where that is simpler for your charity.

No. A submission gate blocks sending until every donor flagged in the needs-repair queue is resolved, and the claim XML is validated against HMRC schema and Schematron before it is submitted.

Stop leaving Gift Aid on the table.

Sky Gift Claim works alongside SkyDonate to automate everything from donor eligibility to HMRC submission. Get set up in a day: including a full ISV sandbox test run

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