6,000 clubs & £100m saved

The summer will see the 6,000th Community Amateur Sports Club registered with HMRC. £100m in tax relief will shortly have been received by CASC’s since the scheme’s inception in 2002 (Source: estimate based on Deloitte – Monthly analysis of CASC registrations). This is a fantastic milestone and highlights how valuable the scheme is to grass roots sport.

Local Authorities

There has never been a better time to register as a Community Amateur Sports Club! Many Local Authorities are in the process of withdrawing discretionary business rate relief in order to save money in the current economic climate. Registering as a CASC entitles the club to mandatory 80% rate relief which significantly reduces the financial burden.

Fit and Proper Persons

Did you know that Community Amateur Sports Clubs must satisfy the recently introduced Fit and Proper Persons test? This has been brought in to ensure that individuals such as committee members who have general or financial control of the club are suitable. For further details on how to ensure you are satisfying this condition please visit the HMRC website

New CASC application form

There is a new application form to register with HMRC as a Community Amateur Sports Club. It is a new ‘intelligent’ form and has to be filled out on-line, printed and posted to HMRC. You will find the form here. Please do not use the old form as this will not be accepted.

Gift Aid improvements

Improvements for claiming Gift Aid are currently in the pipeline to commence in April 2013. The proposal is to remove the need by the club to obtain gift aid declarations for small donations under £10, with a maximum of £5,000 per year per CASC. This will significantly reduce the administrative burden on fundraising for registered CASC’s. If the proposal goes ahead, a CASC would have to have been operating gift aid successfully for a minimum of three years. A good reason to register as a CASC now!

For further information on CASC, please visit the HMRC’s website.