Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Renua Ireland)
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184. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of sports clubs (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46605/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that Section 2 of the Charities Act 2009 defines the criteria of a charitable organisation and also defines bodies that are excluded from the qualifying definition. Revenue has also advised me that the granting of charitable status is a question for the Charity Regulator since October 2014.

The 'exclusion' includes 'approved bodies of persons' (such as sports bodies) as defined by Section 235 of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997. For this reason, a sports body is not within the definition of a charitable organisation and cannot be granted a charitable tax exemption. However, Section 235 and various other Sections and Acts provide for certain tax exemptions for approved sports bodies, for example, Income Tax, Corporation Tax, Dividend Withholding Tax (Sec 172C(2)(f)TCA) and Stamp Duty (Sec 82B(1) Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999).

The VAT treatment of goods and services in the State is subject to the requirements of EU VAT law. The EU VAT Directive (Council Directive 2006/112/EC) provides that the standard rate of VAT (23%) must be applied to various supplies such as sports gear. The Directive also provides that the VAT rate is determined by the nature of the supply rather than the status of the recipient of the supply.