What it is
No UK law requires companies to spend on CSR. What UK companies are asked for is different: which donations qualify for Corporation Tax relief, how much they invest in communities, and what social value they delivered on public contracts. The Giving and social value page answers all three from the same records, for one fiscal year.
Qualifying charitable donations. Under HMRC's rules for companies (Corporation Tax Act 2010, Part 6), cash donations to charities are deducted from total profits in the accounting period they are paid, up to the amount that reduces profits to nil, with no carry-forward. The page lists the paid cash donations of the period to charities with a register number or HMRC charity reference recorded, gives the total for the Qualifying donations box, and lists cash payments to check. Gifts of equipment and trading stock (relieved through the accounts and capital allowances) and sponsorship (a business expense) are shown separately, with the limits on benefits your company may receive in return.
Community investment and social value. The page sets out your inputs in the shape of the B4SI framework: cash, time and in-kind. It then shows the social value evidence that your volunteering records can support under PPN 002, the Social Value Model for central government contracts: metric 3bi (community engagement activities), metric 4bi (hours on environmental activities), volunteering hours, volunteers, people helped, the value of volunteering time and hours by UK region. Choose a campaign to report on one contract. The figures are based on HMRC guidance, the B4SI framework and PPN 002 (February 2025); they are general information, not tax advice.
What you can use it for
- Get the total for the Qualifying donations box on your Corporation Tax return, with the payments behind it, charity by charity.
- Find cash payments to check: payments not linked to a charity, or to a charity with no register number or HMRC reference recorded.
- Check the benefit limits: up to £100 donated, benefits up to 25% of the donation; £101 to £1,000, up to £25; over £1,000, 5% of the donation up to £2,500.
- Report B4SI inputs: cash, time (approved hours × the value of a volunteer hour) and in-kind. Management costs are not recorded in CorpHands; add them yourself.
- Report social value evidence for the year or for one campaign standing for a public contract, with hours by the 12 UK regions: North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Download a CSV, or the UK report pack from the ESG report.
How to do it
Get your records right
- Set the fiscal yearIn Settings → Reporting, set the fiscal year to start in the first month of your accounting period. The page shows which period it covers.
- Record charity numbersOn each charity, add its register number (Charity Commission, OSCR or Charity Commission for Northern Ireland) or HMRC charity reference.
- Mark each paymentWhen you record a payment in the budget, choose Donation or Sponsorship, and cash or in-kind. Only paid amounts dated in the year count.
- Set the regionOn each activity, set the UK region. Only approved hours count.
Read the page
- Open the pageGo to CSR workspace → Giving and social value and choose the year.
- Corporation TaxRead the qualifying donations, the payments to check, equipment and stock, and sponsorship. Fix the payments to check, or confirm them with your adviser.
- B4SI inputsRead cash, time and in-kind, and the basis of each figure.
- Social valueRead the metrics and hours by region. To report one contract, choose its campaign and select Show.
Download
- CSVSelect Download CSV for the year, or for the campaign you chose.
- UK report packFor the whole year in one spreadsheet, go to the ESG report and download the UK report pack.
- CheckConfirm the tax figures with your adviser, and copy social value figures into each buyer's template.
Tips and good practice
- Record the charity's number before the year end. Cash donations to a charity without one are listed as payments to check, not qualifying donations.
- Donations to a community interest company (CIC) are not charitable donations. Record a CIC's Companies House number, but don't expect its payments in the qualifying total.
- Gifts of land, buildings or listed shares also go in the qualifying donations box, at market value. Record them as cash payments with a note.
- The value of a volunteer hour is set in Settings. New UK companies start at £20, based on the ONS median hourly pay of full-time employees (April 2025); use your own cost if you have it.
- Staff volunteering in work time is a normal business cost, not a donation. It appears under B4SI time and social value, not in the qualifying donations.
- CorpHands does not process donations, Payroll Giving or Gift Aid. Your company pays charities directly.
Questions
Does CorpHands claim the tax relief for us?
No. It gives you the figures and the payments behind them. Your company and its tax adviser complete the Corporation Tax return.
Why is a donation not in the qualifying total?
It is not paid, not dated in the year, not in cash, marked as sponsorship, or the charity has no register number or HMRC reference recorded. Payments of the last two kinds are listed under payments to check.
Can we report social value for one public contract?
Yes. Create a campaign for the contract, link the activities delivered under it, then choose that campaign on the page. Each activity belongs to one campaign, so its hours count towards one contract only.
Does CorpHands cover every PPN 002 metric?
No. It evidences what volunteering records can support: 3bi, 4bi and volunteering by UK region. Commitments on jobs, training, supply chains or workforce wellbeing need their own records.