Tax is an important issue for community rugby clubs to take into account.

To help clubs understand the rules and regulations in this area, the RFU has produced guidance notes and supporting information.

NEWSFLASH: RFU update on the taxation of Coronavirus Business Support Grants

Government has continued to provide much needed financial support to rugby union clubs during successive lockdowns. Legislation was introduced last year to tax these business support grants and CJRS grants. Following this HMRC published its detailed guidance on these new tax rules however, the guidance is quite general in scope and does not address the special corporation tax rules which apply to members sports clubs’. HMRC’s position is that these grants are fully taxable whether a club has been liable to corporation tax in the past and filed returns or not. 

We have produced an demand webinar  which gives you an overview of the approach. 

The only possible exceptions are-

Where the grant is taxable, deductions will be available for qualifying expenditure, which may reduce or eliminate the taxable amount of the grant. The position is not straightforward if HMRC’s position is accepted particularly for those clubs, that have had no taxable income and have not needed to file corporation tax returns in the past. The difference now is that they are likely to be required to do so if they have received any Coronavirus Business Support Grants. Clubs should routinely consider if their corporation tax position has changed, however this is especially the case in the current climate where usual income streams have disappeared and been replaced with alternative ones such as grant receipts It is advised that if the club is unsure that they take appropriate professional advice where needed.
                
Should you have any further questions or need more information please contact our club support centre at clubsupport@rfu.com and we can refer your question to Richard Baldwin, our retained consultant.