Guidance on donations to approved sports bodies updated

Revenue has made several updates to its guidance on donations to approved sport bodies to reflect a number of Finance Act 2025 changes.

The changes are as follows:

• Paragraph 3 now includes a reference to the inclusion of an approved project number on the certificate issued by the Minister of Culture, Communications and Sport.
• Paragraph 5.1.2 has been updated as follows:
  • It notes that when a self-assessed individual chooses to either claim the personal tax relief on the donation or to surrender the relief to the approved sports body, this decision is irrevocable, when claiming the relief personally the individual must provide the approved project number and (if available) the unique receipt number on their Form 11, and
  • To clarify that a donation under section 847A TCA 1997 is not taken into account in calculating “net relevant earnings” for purposes of the individual’s maximum tax relieved pension contribution to occupational schemes, RACs, PRSAs and PEPPs.
• Paragraph 5.2.2 has been updated to give the same updates for PAYE-only taxpayers as are given in Paragraph 5.1.2 for self-assessed individuals.
• Paragraph 6 has been reviewed to state that receipts issued for relevant donations by an approved sports body must also include the approved project number and unique receipt number.