English Chess Forum

I've just renewed my ECF membership status to the same as Austin Powers.

The fee was £39 of which £6.50 is shown as TAX.

When did ECF memberships start attracting Value Added Tax for the first time?

Thanks!

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:40 pm

I've just renewed my ECF membership status to the same as Austin Powers.

The fee was £39 of which £6.50 is shown as TAX.

When did ECF memberships start attracting Value Added Tax for the first time?

Thanks!

I cannot remember a time when they didn't. That was one of the motivations for the now abandoned attempt to obtain charitable status.

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:40 pm

When did ECF memberships start attracting Value Added Tax for the first time?

Quite possibly 1973 in the days of the BCF when the government replaced Purchase Tax by VAT as part of joining the EEC. It may have been a little later in practice as what was and wasn't covered by VAT rules worked its way through the system and legal challenges.

It's a reason why the chess world is so decentralised. Structuring it as any number of small independent bodies instead of one top down conglomerate avoids VAT on county or league organisational fees and Congress entry fees. That's by virtue of the VAT exemption for low turnover. It's for that reason the ECF should be cautious about running events in its own name as ECF turnover brings it into VAT.

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:40 pm

I've just renewed my ECF membership status to the same as Austin Powers.

The fee was £39 of which £6.50 is shown as TAX.

When did ECF memberships start attracting Value Added Tax for the first time?

Thanks!

I think this question and subsequent discussion might be very relevant to Malcolm Pein's proposal to transfer money from trust funds to the ECF. Kudos to John U for raising the issue.

Angus French wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:10 pm

I think this question might be hugely relevant to Malcolm Pein's proposal to transfer money from trust funds to the ECF.

If anyone remembers the 2011 British, this issue or a parallel one came up then. The then President, CJ de Mooi, arranged a sponsorship deal but the sponsors insisted that the money go through the ECF's books which added to the ECF's VAT liability. That's not as bad as it sounds because the ECF in turn could reclaim the VAT paid on titled player accommodation, arbiters' meals etc. The reason for the sponsor's request was that they could in turn offset their own VAT bill.

I asked because of the following:





which shows:




and hopefully you can see the reason for my VAT confusion.

I think you should assume that the data history is incorrect. Haven't the ECF changed systems relatively recently?

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:26 pm

I think you should assume that the data history is incorrect. Haven't the ECF changed systems relatively recently?

Roger beat me to it.