Relief for community amateur sports clubs
Finance Bill (except clauses 4, 5, 20, 28, 57 to 77, 86, 111 and 282 to 289, and schedules 1, 3, 11, 12, 21 and 37 to 39)
3:45 pm
Mr John Burnett (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Torridge and West Devon, Liberal Democrat)
As usual, Mr. McWilliam, you bring an element of sobriety to these events that is welcome.
It would be churlish not to welcome the clause. Amateur clubs are important to all our constituencies. I wonder whether the Economic Secretary could clarify one or two matters. The clause proposes to increase the turnover exemptions from £15,000 to £30,000, and I wonder how much that will cost the Inland Revenue. Sporting clubs in my constituency with bars will find it pretty easy to exceed the £30,000 limit. It is a matter of interest to me exactly what the cost of that turnover measure will be.
One of the other reliefs in the clause relates to bank and building society interest. It repeats the bank and building society interest exemption. I take it—and I hope the Economic Secretary will agree—that bank and building society interest for such community amateur sports clubs is relieved of corporation tax and all other taxation. I would like to know—I should know this but I am afraid I do not—whether community amateur sports clubs can invest in gross interest yielding investments. Would all the interest from those investments be free of tax? I return to where I started. It is a welcome provision, but I wonder whether the Economic Secretary would be good enough to respond to the two specific points that I have raised.