Tax breaks for sports clubs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amateur sports clubs are to be given charitable status under new proposals to be announced in the spring Budget.
Following months of negotiations, the status of community sporting clubs is to change, making them eligible for tax breaks worth between £40m and £60m. Up to 150,000 clubs, which have an estimated total membership of 1.5 million sports enthusiasts, stand to gain from the changes. Many of them currently struggle to survive as profit-making businesses.
Winning charitable status would mean sports clubs would get 80 per cent mandatory rate relief, with a further 20 per cent available at the discretion of the local authority. Other tax breaks may also be in the offing. But despite widespread support in Parliament for amateur sports clubs to be eligible for charitable status, the complications and strict rules governing charities had caused concerns among the clubs themselves.
Many felt the conditions proposed by the Charity Commission would be "unworkable".
In discussions last week, the Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, is understood to have brokered a deal with representatives from the worlds of football, cricket and rugby, as well as the new chief charity commissioner, John Stoker, to overcome some of these issues.
One stumbling block, which has now been removed, was the Charity Commission's insistence that in order to quality for charitable status, clubs would have to ensure that "all who wish to play should be given the same opportunity to do so". The club would be "bound to maximise participation, and hence enthusiasm would count for as much as ability in selecting players".
It is understood that this condition has been watered down so that clubs would have to allow anyone who wished to join the club to be a member but the restrictions would not apply when selecting teams.
Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, is also under pressure to bring in tax changes to cover money made from social membership and bar takings.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments