Community Amateur Sports Clubs

Save money for your club by registering as a Community Amateur Sports Club today.

What are Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC)?

Community Amateur Sports Club status is an initiative run by the Inland Revenue, which gives, sports clubs (or clubs with sport as their main purpose) many of the benefits of charitable status without the various administrative responsibilities associated with being a charity.

What are the benefits of CASC status?

The benefits of CASC status include:

Clubs can reduce their rates bills by at least 80%, in many cases clubs have been able to claim 100% rate relief. This can be of substantial value to clubs that own or lease their own facilities or land. Some clubs have been able to secure the remaining 20% as discretionary relief
Individuals including members can give cash to the club using Gift Aid, which will provide - A tax relief for the club of £28 for every £100 donated and income tax relief on the gift resulting in a tax repayment for a higher rate taxpayer of £23 for every £100 given
Exemption on corporation tax on bank and building society interest
Clubs' income from interest and capital gains are tax-free
Exemptions from Corporation Tax apply on trading income of up to £30,000 and income from property of up to £20,000

How can a club become a Community Amateur Sports Club?

1.make sure your club meets the following conditions:

Membership must be open to the whole community
The club's facilities must be available to all members without discrimination
The club's rules/constitution must prevent the distribution of profits to members - funds must be reinvested in the club
Club members cannot be paid for playing, although they can be paid for providing other services to the club such as coaching
Membership categories and fees must be reasonable and should not be a barrier to open membership

(The Lawn Tennis Association website has a useful example of a sports club constitution: example of a sports club constitution (opens in a new window) )

2. To register, at no cost, clubs need to complete two simple forms, and submit a set of accounts and governing documents.

If these documents are not compliant with the CASC system, the Inland Revenue will advise clubs what changes need to be made.

These are available at: Inland Revenue (opens in a new window)

Background

In 2001, in an effort to address this, the government passed new legislation which would allow amateur sports clubs to take advantage of valuable tax relief's. Clubs that provide facilities and promote participation in eligible sports can save money by registering as a community amateur sports club (CASC).

The community amateur sports club (CASC) scheme came into operation in April 1992 and is run by the Inland Revenue Sports Clubs Department. It seeks to recognise the good community work that many sports clubs do by giving them many of the benefits that derive from having charitable status but without the hard work and complexity of enrolling as a charity and complying with charitable procedures.

Around 3,000 clubs have registered with the CASC scheme (553 clubs in the South East), although potentially 30,000 clubs are eligible to take advantage of the scheme.

Cash benefits are not available until clubs register. Club Committees should be considering CASC registration now.