IHTM11140 - Community Amateur Sports Clubs: Meaning of Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) and 'registered club'

In addition to charities IHTA84/S23 allows exemption for transfers of value to ‘registered clubs’.

This derives from a statutory scheme under which any sports clubs which satisfy certain conditions can register as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) with HMRC. Registration as a CASC confers tax benefits on a sports club similar to those enjoyed by charities. This legislation originally applied only to clubs in the UK but we now accept similar organisations in the European Union (EU) and other specified countries may also qualify. A club is entitled to be registered as a CASC if it;

• is open to the whole community,
• is organised on an amateur basis,
• has as its main purpose the provision of sports facilities
• meets the location condition (IHTM11141), and
• meets the management condition (IHTM11142)

A ‘registered club’ means a club that is registered as a CASC.

To find out whether a sports club qualified as a registered club at the date of death, you should follow the same procedure of checking the HMRC Charities database (IHTM11123) as you would use for charities. If the sports club cannot be found on the database there is a separate list of registered clubs on the HMRC website. External users can find this guidance at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/casc/clubs.htm

If the sports club cannot be found on either of these two databases, you should ask the taxpayer or agent to obtain a copy of the confirmation of CASC status issued by HMRC Charities, from the sports club. If they are able to provide this you can accept the exemption applies.

If asking for this evidence doesn’t resolve the question of whether the club is a CASC or if you have any doubts over the status of a club, you should contact HMRC Charities, Bootle on 0845 302 0203. HMRC Charities will be able to confirm whether a club had the required status at the date of the charge.