Michael Steed, President of the ATT, said:

"This is good news. The Government is recognising the important contribution that local businesses make to grassroots sport. With 2016 being another Olympics year, it makes sense to harness the increased public interest in active participation in sport.

"What we think is essential in the consultation is to focus on how funding to grassroots sport can be made as simple and efficient as possible.

"It is important that it ties in effectively with the existing Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) provisions but that it also enables simple funding for those much smaller sports clubs for whom CASC status is either inappropriate or over-sophisticated. It would be unhelpful if the focus was exclusively on either CASC or non-CASC clubs. It should be equally simple for a company to get Corporation Tax relief on a contribution to either.

"One thing that would be very helpful would be a provision that ensured that contributions below a certain level were not subject to onerous qualifying conditions. A contribution of say £500 could make a world of difference to a struggling or newly formed sports team but getting professional advice on its tax treatment could cost a company the same amount unless the rules are kept simple.

"We look forward to the publication of the consultation so that these ideas can be developed."

Notes for editors

1. Blue Book section 3.58 - see here: 3.58 Consultation on how to expand corporation tax deductions for contributions to grassroots sport - The government will launch a consultation at Budget 2016 on how to expand support that can be given to grassroots sport through the corporation tax system.