Most amateur football clubs don’t think of themselves as businesses. But HMRC does, at least when it comes to VAT.
If your club’s income is growing, the VAT registration threshold is something your committee needs to keep an eye on.
Here’s what you should know, in plain English.
The basics
The current VAT registration threshold is £90,000. That figure has been in place since April 2024 and hasn’t changed for 2026/27.
If your club’s taxable turnover goes above £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, you’re legally required to register for VAT. There’s also a forward-looking test: if you expect to exceed £90,000 in the next 30 days alone (say, because of a large sponsorship deal or facility hire contract), you need to register before it happens.
The deregistration threshold (the point at which you can apply to leave the VAT system) is £88,000.
What counts as taxable turnover?
This is the important bit. Not all of a football club’s income counts towards the VAT threshold, but more of it might than you think.
Income that IS typically taxable (and counts towards the £90,000):
- Sponsorship income
- Advertising income
- Bar and catering sales
- Social event ticket sales and function hire
- Admission charges for spectators
- Kit and merchandise sales
- Parking charges
- Buggy or equipment hire (where not essential to sport)
- Social or non-playing membership subscriptions
- Gaming machine income
Income that may be VAT exempt (and does NOT count towards the threshold):
Under VAT Notice 701/45, certain sporting services are exempt from VAT, but only when supplied by an eligible body. To qualify, your club must be:
- Non-profit making
- Have a non-distribution clause in its constitution (preventing profits being shared out to members, other than on winding up)
- Not subject to “commercial influence” (more on that below)
- Actually use all surpluses from playing activities to maintain or improve its facilities
If your club meets those conditions, the following are typically exempt:
- Playing subscriptions and membership fees for active participants
- Match fees for use of playing facilities
- Use of changing rooms, showers, and playing equipment
- Coaching services (when provided by the club, not a self-employed coach)
- Referee, umpire, and judging services supplied by the club
- Competition entry fees (where all entry fees are returned as prizes, or the competition is promoted by an eligible body established for sport)
Income that’s outside the scope of VAT entirely:
- Donations with nothing given in return
- Grants (where no supply is made in return)
- Disciplinary fines
Outside-the-scope income doesn’t count towards the threshold either.
The tricky areas
Mixed-purpose match fees
If your match fee includes an element of catering or transport, you may need to split the fee between exempt and taxable portions. A flat match fee that covers pitch use, a post-match meal, and travel isn’t all exempt. The catering and transport elements are separate supplies with their own VAT treatment.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship is almost always taxable. If a local business pays the club £5,000 in return for their name on the shirts, that’s a standard-rated supply. It counts towards the threshold.
Bar income
This is standard-rated and often the biggest single contributor to a club’s taxable turnover. If your club runs a bar on matchdays and for social events, this income adds up fast.
Self-employed coaches and referees
A self-employed individual is not an eligible body. Their services are not exempt under the sports exemption, even if they’re coaching at your club. This matters if the club is paying them. It doesn’t directly affect the club’s threshold, but it does affect the coach’s own VAT position.
Commercial influence
This is unlikely to affect most amateur clubs, but it’s worth being aware of. If your club has paid any officer (that includes committee members, directors, or trustees) a salary, bonus, or other payment calculated by reference to the club’s profits or gross income within the last three years, HMRC could treat the club as being under “commercial influence.” That would mean it no longer qualifies as an eligible body, and exempt sporting supplies would become standard-rated instead.
In practice, this is rare at grassroots level. Paying a fixed honorarium to a secretary or treasurer is fine, and using a committee member’s firm for routine bookkeeping or legal services won’t cause a problem either. It only becomes an issue where payments are linked to profits or income.
What to do if you think you’re getting close
1. Track your taxable income separately, every month.
Don’t wait for the year-end accounts. The VAT threshold works on a rolling 12-month basis. At the end of every month, add up your taxable income for the previous 12 months. If it’s approaching £90,000, it’s time to act.
2. Separate your income streams.
Make sure your bookkeeping splits income into taxable, exempt, and outside-the-scope categories. If everything is lumped into one pot, you won’t know where you stand until it’s too late.
3. Review your constitution.
If you want to rely on the sports exemption for membership and match fees, make sure your governing document includes a proper non-distribution clause. Without one, you’re not an eligible body and those supplies are taxable from the start.
4. Check for commercial influence.
Review any payments made to officers or connected persons in the last three years. If anything looks like it might be calculated by reference to profits or income, get advice.
5. Talk to your accountant before you breach the threshold, not after.
If you register late, HMRC can backdate your registration to the date you should have registered. That means you’d owe VAT on income you’ve already received, without having charged it. The club would have to absorb that cost, plus potential penalties.
6. Consider voluntary registration.
If you’re hovering just below the threshold and have significant costs that include VAT (building work, equipment, professional fees), it may be worth registering voluntarily. You’d then be able to reclaim VAT on those costs, though you’d need to charge VAT on your taxable supplies. Whether this makes sense depends on your club’s specific circumstances.
A word on partial exemption
Once registered, a club making both taxable and exempt supplies will need to deal with partial exemption. In simple terms, you can reclaim the VAT on costs that relate to your taxable supplies (like bar stock), but not on costs relating to exempt supplies (like maintaining the pitch used for exempt playing activities). Costs that relate to both (like general overheads or clubhouse maintenance) need to be apportioned.
This isn’t complicated for most clubs, but it does need to be done properly from day one.
In summary
Amateur football clubs can easily drift towards the VAT threshold without realising it, especially those with active bars, regular sponsorship income, and facility hire. The sports exemption helps keep some income out of the equation, but it only applies if your club is a genuine eligible body with the right constitutional protections in place.
Track your taxable income monthly. Keep your exempt and taxable streams separate. And if you’re getting close to £90,000, get proper advice before you cross the line.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute professional advice. VAT is a complex area and the rules around sporting exemptions have specific conditions that need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. If you’re unsure about your club’s VAT position, please get in touch.
Sources:
VAT Act 1994, Schedule 9, Group 10 as amended by the Value Added Tax (Sport) Order 2014 (SI 2014/3185)
HMRC VAT Notice 701/45: Sport supplies that are VAT exempt (uploaded document, published 2 August 2011, updated to reflect changes from 1 January 2015)
HMRC/GOV.UK: VAT registration threshold confirmed at £90,000 from 1 April 2024, unchanged for 2026/27
