HMRC has unveiled the data it proposes charities should have to provide when it introduces its iXBRL online filing requirements, and is asking charities to give feedback.

Speaking at an online filing meeting this week organised by CFDG vice chair Roger Chester, HMRC’s customer champion Jeff Smith produced a spreadsheet version of the taxonomy via which charities will be expected to report electronically.

Smith cautioned that the spreadsheet is a "dumbed down" version of the taxonomy compared to the iXBRL version as it does not show the interaction between the various items, but explained that the taxonomy includes 330 items from the Sorp, with the rest taken from UK GAAP requirements.

Responding to questions from the audience, Smith said: “If we find problems that are really difficult then we will respond accordingly, but what we do need is proper input. We can’t do anything until we know the situation.”

He added: “We would like responses sooner rather than later, two weeks would be ideal.”

Useful for allowing comparisons

Chester highlighted how useful the data could be to charities that wish to benchmark themselves against others in the sector.

“There’s going to be some work in it for us, but it’s going to be the first chance to bring all charities onto the same basis.

“If you’ve ever looked at the range of charity accounts, the first thing you realise is that every set of accounts that you pick up is different, even with Sorp 2005.”

Tag categories 'must be appropriate'

Speaking from the audience, Greyham Dawes, director at the charities and education unit at Horwath Clark Whitehill and a key figure in the development of the Sorp, said the categories of tags for filing online need to be correctly chosen.

He added: “Will the charity have the facility to put in its own sub-tags? If it can’t do that there’s going to be gaps, as items have got to be put in somewhere.

“And if it can then there is a danger that we will all be inventing our own tags, and there will be an element where there’s no proper comparison.”

Meanwhile, Stuart Parkinson, senior manager at Baker Tilly, said: “It looks to me like it’s supposed to look in terms of the Sorp.

“The thing that strikes me is there are an awful lot of charities out there that are not compliant with the Sorp, so they’re going to struggle to be able to tag their individual entries.”

Smith will be speaking again on the subject of iXBRL at CFDG’s annual conference next month.

iXBRL filing will only be a requirement for incorporated charities, with unincorporated charities able to simply submit a pdf document.

Submissions via iXBRL do not currently need to be audited but observers expect this to change at some point in the future.