The number of Community Amateur Sport Clubs (CASCs) registered with the Inland Revenue for tax and rates relief increased to 4,797 in April 2008. This continues the progress in the last year with 31 more clubs registered during the month.

Pete Hackleton, Senior Manager at Deloitte, comments: “The Government has made a real effort to stimulate grass roots sport in the last 4 years, recognising the many benefits of increasing participation in sport, particularly its contribution to improved community well being. For the last year the focus has been on working with the clubs through sports governing bodies and local authorities to increase awareness of the reliefs available and ensure these measures make a difference to the future of sport in the UK.

“If only half of all eligible clubs registered and received donations of £4,000 each a year, this, together with rates relief, could generate in total over £150 million per annum for the clubs. In order to take advantage of the rate relief, clubs must register as a CASC with the Inland Revenue. The registration process is straightforward and can be completed within a matter of weeks.”

The most valuable benefits to clubs that register as a CASC are:

• Mandatory 80% business rate relief from 1 April 2004, which can be increased to 100% at the discretion of local authorities.
• The ability to raise funds from individuals under Gift Aid – a registered CASC can reclaim £28 in tax from the Revenue for every £100 donated by individuals.

The sooner a club registers, the sooner the reliefs will be available.

Totteridge Cricket Club is a good example of a club benefiting from registering as a CASC now saving £3,710 a year as a result.

“Clubs that have registered as CASCs have already received a total of £41.2m in cash benefits, and more clubs should consider registration now”, said Pete Hackleton.

If you would like to know more, please consult the CASC pages of the HMRC website.

Community Amateur Sports Clubs registrations by sport – month ended 30 September 2007.

Registered CASCs serving the top ten sports include 3,820 out of the 4,488 registered clubs.

Source: Deloitte analysis.

Notes

The Inland Revenue’s tax concessions for Community Amateur Sports Clubs were introduced in April 2002. The major benefits are:

• All interest income and capital gains are exempt from corporation tax
• Property and fund raising income is exempt from corporation tax up to certain limits
• Individuals can claim gift aid and inheritance tax relief in respect of monetary contributions/gifts to the club
• The clubs can reclaim income tax on contributions received under gift aid.
• In addition, from 1st April 2004 80% mandatory rate relief is also available.

Alternatively, clubs registering as charities:

• Are exempt from corporate tax for all income and gains (with appropriate structuring)
• Can claim income tax repayments for the club on gift aid income
• Can claim corporation tax relief for gift aid payments by companies
• Enjoy mandatory uniform business rate and VAT reliefs
• Enjoy tax relief for gifts of shares and real property by individuals or companies.

As with the Inland Revenue scheme, individuals can also claim gift-aid and inheritance tax relief in respect of contributions/gifts to a club registered as a charity.

Richard Baldwin of Deloitte is chairman of the CASC Development Forum established in 1999 by the Department of Culture, Media & Sport to secure tax concessions for Community Amateur Sports Clubs. Other members of the Group are Bates, Wells & Braithwaite, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, the National Playing Fields Association and Sport England.