Tax relief on donations to certain sports bodies

Who can claim the tax relief?

Donations from individuals

When an individual makes a donation, you as the approved sports body can claim the tax relief if authorised by the donor. An individual for this purpose means:

• a person who pays tax under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system
• or
• a person who pays tax under self-assessment or who is jointly assessed with a spouse or civil partner that pays tax under self-assessment.

You cannot claim the tax relief if the individual making the donation does not authorise you to do so.

To make a claim you must:

• request an appropriate certificate from the donor
• and
• complete a Form 847A and submit it through Revenue Online Service (ROS). Further details on how to submit your claim will be provided soon. 

The relief is calculated by grossing up the donation at the rate tax was paid by the individual. The amount of the refund cannot be more than the amount of tax paid by the donor for the same year. 

Note - Qualifying criteria 

For a donation to qualify for tax relief, it is not enough to be an approved sports body. You must also have either an approved project, or a qualifying project, as appropriate.

Donations from companies

An approved sports body cannot claim tax relief on donations from a company.  The company should claim the donation as an expense when calculating their total income or profit. In this case, there is no grossing up arrangement.

The relief cannot be claimed where there is no approved or qualifying project, as appropriate.

Receipts

You must provide a receipt to all donors who make a donation, whether or not they are also donating their tax relief to the sports body.

The receipt must contain the following information:

• Name and address of the individual or company making the donation.
• Amount of the donation.
• Date the donation was made.
• Name of the approved sports body that received the donation
• Games and Sports (GS) number of the approved sports body that received the donation.
• Approved project number, or qualifying project number, as appropriate.
• Signature of authorised officer.

The receipt must be signed and dated. The receipt must also state that the donation was made in respect of a specified approved project or a qualifying project. 

Next: What is a relevant donation?