Eat Out to Help Out Scheme (EOHOS)- Gift aid

Our recent article on the EOHOS can be accessed here.

If your club has a cafe or restaurant selling food and/or non-alcohol drinks for consumption on the premises, it may be eligible to register for the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.

The UK wide Scheme provides a 50% discount (up to a maximum of £10 per person) to diners to encourage them to eat and drink (non-alcoholic beverages) out every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 3 and 31 August 2020. The discount is not applicable for food or drink for consumption off the premises.

It is worthwhile mentioning that, if your club is a CASC or a Charity it is open to you to invite members to donate their EOHOS discount back to the club after paying their bill and claim Gift Aid on it, potentially under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS). The club would have to be registered for EOHOS and would also need to be registered as a CASC or charity. The terms of GASDS would also have to be complied with e.g. the club must be a registered CASC or charity and claiming gift aid currently and the maximum qualifying donation is £30 and the club should also be using gift aid proper within the prescribed limits and the donation must be in cash or contactless.

Under GASDS UP TO £2,000 can be repaid per annum and HMRC is very keen for GASDS to be used more. However this is time limited as EOHOS is only available throughout August on Mondays to Wednesdays, so you'll have to hurry if you wish to make use of it.

If your sailing club has any queries regarding VAT, please contact the RYA Legal Team on 023 8060 4223 or legal@rya.org.uk. You can also find further guidance on the Coronavirus related financial assistance available here.