A Brief Overview The Association was established some 15 years ago as an independent organisation to help amateur sports clubs get to grips with CASC Legislation as required by HMRC. We give advice and support to all types of qualifying sports clubs in attaining and maintaining CASC Compliance. The vast majority of amateur clubs (often run by a volunteer workforce) do not have easy access to CASC experts. The subject is now complex and covers several areas of legislation, which are constantly evolving and developing. For many clubs keeping up to date is a difficult task. Why Join? ACASC provides CASC Club Committee volunteers with a personal, friendly advisory service. We understand that Club Committees can often feel confused & sometimes slightly intimidated by official rules and regulations. If your club hits a problem, we can provide jargon-free solutions to virtually any problem a CASC may encounter. Our advice is confidential and always tailored to the knowledge level & requirements of the club Committee. As a professional but not-for-profit organisation, ACASC is run as a large 'family' of CASC Registered Clubs which also includes those wishing to become CASC registered. The ACASC knowledge base has been compiled (and archived) from individual club experiences plus a substantial amount of private written Guidance direct from HMRC. Summary of ACASC Membership Benefits: Fast response telephone helpline to discuss any CASC related issue Access to a comprehensive library of real-world CASC problems & solutions A range of confidential Compliance Checking tools to measure your own Compliance Accounts & Financial Compliance checking service for all members Independent Compliance check of Governing documents & Club Rules Mediation service for internal club disputes between committee & members Access to a range of Policy Templates i.e. Low/Modest income applications,     Fit & Proper Persons Declarations, CASC Trustee Forms, Player Contracts etc CASC Application Services (includes preparation, document checklist and various templates etc) Incorporation of a CASC as a Company Limited by Guarantee or by Limited by Shares Incorporation of a CASC Club Trading Subsidiary including choice of template Articles CASC Club Incorporation We can guide you with the CASC Incorporation process. Many unincorporated CASCs are becoming aware of the high level of liability that the club and its officers are exposed to. We now live in an age where organisations face being sued for damages in an alarming number and variety of cases. The same is also true for actions against individual officers of the club. Your club should protect itself from potential claims against the club. In addition, the club committee should not operate in the belief that Director's insurance will protect them personally against a successful negligence claim against the club. The CASC in particular is even more vulnerable to legal actions due to the additional constraints of working within the CASC Guidance as laid down by HMRC. Please contact ACASC for more information about our CASC Incorporation Pack. CASC Trading Company Registration Clubs with non-member Trading Turnover in excess of £100k are not eligible to remain as a CASC. Clubs that cross the threshold are liable to be de-registered from the scheme and face potentially heavy tax penalties. Many clubs opt to place some (or all) of their trading turnover within a subsidiary company & Gift the profits back to the club. ACASC is happy to work with clubs and their accountants in the creation of a suitable Trading Company. This is generally not an 'off-the-shelf' exercise. Setting up a CASC Trading Subsidiary requires specialist knowledge with the result carefully tailored to the club's individual requirements. Please contact ACASC for more information about our CASC Trading Service Pack. Independent CASC Compliance Checking Many clubs are rightly concerned that they may drift out of CASC Compliance over a period of time. We therefore offer a confidential Compliance Checking Service for members, which will help the club root out any potential problems. A simple compliance mistake can lead to catastrophic consequences at a future date for a club. The vast majority of errors are genuine but may not be forgiven. The tax penalties for non-compliance are substantial - as are the tax breaks for clubs. We have encountered numerous cases where a Club Committee has perhaps overlooked a key point or misunderstood HMRC Guidance in some aspect. Help Becoming CASC Registered ACASC can assist your club in applying to HMRC for CASC registration. For clubs with non-member* income under £50k we offer a service with no up-front costs. Then upon successful CASC registration with HMRC, your club will be expected to join ACASC for a standard minimum of 2 years (applicable to all new members) and pay a small admin fee. For clubs with non-member* income over of £50k, the club will first be expected to join ACASC for 2 years (applicable to all new members) and pay an agreed admin fee upon successful registration. *Non-member income is income from any type of member, visitor or sponsor that does not have full voting rights at the club. We do recommend that when a club puts in a CASC application that they get it right first time - or as near as possible. Clubs should avoid a 'trial & error' approach to becoming CASC registered, because long drawn out corrections, errors & missing information could place the club in a bad light. Some may find their applications are postponed by HMRC indefinitely. Provided your club is a genuine not-for-profit organisation we can assist you in preparing your application for CASC Registration. Our CASC Registration Service for members will ensure that your club attains its goal - and in the shortest possible time if necessary. Feedback about our CASC Registration Service: "We are more than happy to recommend ACASC. As a result of your help, our CASC Registration was approved within 5 weeks. And to our delight our CASC registration was back-dated almost 3 months before we submitted our application." Ann Harper - Club Manger Dispute Resolution & Mediation ACASC has a wealth of experience in taking the heat out of CASC disputes and working towards a sensible internal resolution that does not jeopardise the club's CASC status. It is not unusual for any club to find itself engaged in a protracted internal or external dispute. The danger for the CASC is that such disputes can potentially evolve into a matter that involves intervention by an outside authority. The last thing a CASC would want is to find that a local dispute has evolved into a test of its CASC Compliance Policies. About Our Team The advice and expertise that we give to clubs is drawn from a team of experts in Accountancy & Tax, Company Law, Charity Law & Club Management. We have also compiled a knowledge-base of information supplied directly to us from HMRC to help clarify problems experienced by individual Association members.