Taxation of Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)

CASCs are treated as companies for tax purposes so their profits or gains may be chargeable to Corporation Tax.

Tax Exemptions

Once registered as a CASC your club will be entitled to claim tax relief for:

  • trading profits, where trading turnover does not exceed £30,000
  • rental income received, where that income does not exceed £20000
  • investment interest received
  • chargeable gains

All tax reliefs are subject to the income or gains being used for qualifying sporting purposes. If your CASC has non-qualifying expenditure you may have relief on income received restricted.

Claiming tax back

Your club can claim back the basic rate tax on Gift Aid donations from individuals or on other income received after tax has been deducted, (eg bank interest). However, you must note that Gift Aid is only available for gifts to CASCs and not for other payments such as membership subscriptions

When you apply to register as a CASC we will send you the information and forms that you need to register for repayments under Gift Aid, if you have had tax deducted from other income you can claim repayment at the same time. In particular, you must authorise a named individual to claim repayments on behalf of your club.

Further information about the tax relief for registered CASCs is available in the detailed guidance notes for CASCs.

VAT

There is no VAT relief available to CASCs.

Non-domestic rates

You should contact your local council for guidance about non-domestic rate relief for registered CASCs.

Tax obligations

Most CASCs will not be sent a tax return every year but if a tax return is issued you must complete it and return it within normal time limits, even if you believe that there is no tax to pay. If you do not send your return in on time you will be charged penalties.

If your CASC is liable to tax you must pay that tax on time. Tax paid late will attract interest and penalties.

If you have not been sent a tax return and you have taxable income you must tell HMRC Sports Club unit as soon as possible and request a tax return.

Further information is available in detailed guidance notes for CASCs about of how to treat your accounts and tax liability for the period during which CASC status is achieved.

Tax relief for donors

There is a range of tax reliefs to encourage individuals and companies to support CASCs.

  • Individuals can make gifts to CASCs using the Gift Aid scheme.
  • Individuals can obtain relief from Inheritance Tax for gifts to CASCs.
  • Businesses that give goods or equipment that they make, sell or use get relief for their gifts.
  • Gifts of chargeable assets (land/buildings or shares/securities) to CASCs by individuals or companies are treated as giving rise to neither a gain nor a loss for Capital Gains purposes.