Tax relief for community amateur sports clubs (CASCs)

Community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) based in the UK get some tax reliefs.

You may be able to claim relief on money your CASC uses to promote participation in and provide facilities for eligible sports. These are called ‘qualifying purposes’.

To benefit you need to register as a CASC.

CASCs based in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway can no longer apply to get tax relief. You will still be entitled to tax relief until April 2024 if you were registered as a CASC on or before 14 March 2023.

What CASCs do not pay tax on

If the money you receive is used for qualifying purposes, you do not pay tax on:

• bank interest
• Gift Aid donations, including donations made by a trading company that’s owned by your CASC (you can claim the tax back)
• capital gains (profit from selling or disposing of an asset)
• trading profits if your turnover is less than £50,000 a year (£30,000 before 1 April 2015)
• income of up to £30,000 a year from renting out property (£20,000 before 1 April 2015)

If the money comes from members with full voting rights, you also will not pay tax on:

• income from membership fees
• profits from selling food and drink relating to the club’s sporting activities, such as a members bar

You cannot claim Gift Aid on membership fees.

What CASCs do pay tax on

You must pay tax on money that is not used for qualifying purposes.

You must also pay:

• VAT - although you may be exempt for fundraising and sporting activities
• tax on income of more than £30,000 a year from renting out property
• business rates, but you can apply for relief of up to 80%
• tax on trading profits if the turnover is more than £50,000 a year

You’ll have to pay tax on the full amount, after deducting any allowable expenses, if your trading or rental income is more than the relief limits.

Pay tax

You must complete a tax return if your CASC needs to pay tax.

If HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) asks for a tax return you must complete one - even if there’s no tax to pay.

Reclaim tax

You can use Charities Online to claim back tax that’s been deducted, for example on:

• Gift Aid donations
• bank interest

You must keep records of all transactions you want to claim tax relief on (including Gift Aid declarations) for 6 years after the end of the accounting period they relate to.