Nearly 7,000 sports clubs in the UK have benefitted from registering as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs), a status which enables them to save vital funds to reinvest in community-level sporting activities.
CASCs were introduced by the government to promote public participation in sports. By registering as CASCs sports clubs can receive charity-type tax reliefs, benefitting from mandatory 80% business rate relief, Gift Aid on donations, corporation tax reliefs and capital gains tax relief on the sale of land.
John Hammill, partner at Square One Law said: “If a club’s activities are undertaken on a not-for-profit basis then it should be possible for them to register as a CASC but they would require legal and accountancy advice to ensure that the appropriate legal structure and documents are produced.
“This year we have worked with more than 20 cricket, golf, rugby, tennis and multi-sports clubs in the North East and across the UK, to secure or maintain CASC status in line with the new qualifying criteria which was introduced on 1 April 2016.”
The Newcastle-based law firm worked with South Northumberland Cricket Club to apply the new CASC rules as far back as September 2014.
Chairman, Roger Griffiths, said: “Although altering our legal status meant that we underwent small internal changes, the savings we made in the first year following the changes more than covered our professional fees. These savings will be made on a recurring basis and will be reinvested directly into the running of the club for the benefit of the community.
“We already have ambitious plans for the money which will be used to enhance our cricket camps for all ages as well as a greatly improved winter coaching programme.”
John commented: “Given the recurring financial benefits of being registered as a CASC, it surprises me that many eligible sports clubs have not registered. Whilst it’s understandable that clubs may be apprehensive about applying to become a CASC, thinking it to be a complex, costly and lengthy process, in my experience the directors of clubs have found the process to be easier than they expected, with the benefits of becoming a CASC vastly outweighing any inconvenience.”