Since April 2002, many local amateur sports clubs have been able to register with HMRC as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) and benefit from a range of tax reliefs including Gift Aid.
What Kind of Club can Register?
Broadly a club seeking to register must:
• be open to the whole community
• be organised on an amateur basis
• have as its main purpose providing facilities for, and promoting
participation in, one or more eligible sports.
Open to the whole community
A club is open to the whole community if:
• membership of the club is open without discrimination
• the club’s facilities are open to members without discrimination, and
• any fees are set at a level that does not pose a significant obstacle
to membership or use of the club’s facilities.
Discrimination
Discrimination includes:
• discrimination on grounds of ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation,
religion or beliefs
• discrimination on grounds of sex, age or disability, except as a necessary
consequence of the requirements of a particular sport.
This does not prevent a club from having different classes of membership depending on:
• the age of the member
• whether the member is a student
• whether the member is waged or unwaged
• whether the member is a playing or a non-playing member
• how far from the club the member lives
• any restriction on the days or times when the member has access to the
club’s facilities.
If a club effectively discriminates by only accepting members who have already reached a certain standard it would not come within the CASC requirements.
Level of fees
The legislation does not specify what an acceptable level of fees is, but most members of the community must be able to afford them. Clubs involved with inherently expensive sports that want to register as CASCs will need to be able to demonstrate that membership and participation is within the financial reach of the wider community. This might be achieved by using other income to cross-subsidise fees or by the club making club-owned equipment available for use by members at reduced rates.
Organised on an amateur basis
A club is organised on an amateur basis if:
• it is non-profit making
• it provides for members and their guests only the ordinary benefits of an
amateur sports club, and
• its governing document requires any net assets on the dissolution of the
club to be applied for approved sporting or charitable purposes.
Non-profit making
A club is non-profit making if its governing document requires any surplus income or gains to be reinvested in the club. Surpluses or assets cannot be distributed to members or third parties.
Ordinary benefits of an amateur sports club
The ordinary benefits of an amateur sports club are:
• provision of sporting facilities
• reasonable provision and maintenance of club-owned sports equipment
• provision of suitably qualified coaches
• provision, or reimbursement of the costs, of coaching courses
• provision of insurance cover
• provision of medical treatment
• reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses incurred by players and
officials travelling to away matches
• reasonable provision of post-match refreshments for players and
match officials
• sale or supply of food or drink as a social adjunct to the sporting
purposes of the club.
Payments to Members
A club is allowed to:
• enter into agreements with members for the supply to the club of goods
or services or
• employ and pay remuneration to staff who are club members.
So a CASC could pay members for services such as coaching or grounds maintenance but would not, for example, normally pay members to play.
Eligible Sports
Eligible sports are defined in the legislation by reference to the Sports Council’s list of recognised activities. The list is set out in an appendix to this factsheet.
How to Register as a CASC
Application should be made to HMRC’s Sports Club Unit. An application form can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk/casc/casc_guidance.htm
The following information should also be sent:
• a copy of the CASC's governing document - this might be a constitution,
Rules or Memorandum & Articles of Association
• a copy of the CASC's latest accounts
• a copy of any prospectus, member' ...
