''Guild v IRC'' was an

English trusts law English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trusts were a creation of the English law of property and obligations, and share a subsequent history with countries across the ...

case dealing with charitable trusts which confirmed that recreational facilities open to the public could be valid charities.

Facts

Guild was the executor of the estate of James Russell, who left his estate "for the use in connection with the sports centre in New Berwick or some similar purpose in connection with sport". The

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

held that the trust created did not constitute a charitable trust, and as such was subject to the

Finance Act 1975 A Finance Act is the headline fiscal (budgetary) legislation enacted by the UK Parliament, containing multiple provisions as to taxes, duties, exemptions and reliefs at least once per year, and in particular setting out the principal tax rates f ...

. Since the

Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...

interpretation of "charity" was to be used, English trusts law was applied.Norman (1992) p.361 After an initial hearing in the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

, the case was appealed to the House of Lords.

Judgment

The

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

held that recreational facilities counted as charitable trusts. Lord Keith, giving the sole opinion, applied the

Recreational Charities Act 1958 The Recreational Charities Act 1958 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was repealed in its entirety by the Charities Act 2011. The 1958 Act recognised the place of "recreational facilities" within English law on charitable ...

, which provides that recreational facilities providing "social welfare" to people from social disadvantages or the general members of the public were appropriate charitable trusts. The question was whether the "social welfare" element also applied to recreational facilities open to the general public. Lord Keith rejected this, saying the following.

References

Bibliography

* * * *{{cite journal, last=Norman, first=Helen, year=1992, title=Sporting charities - social welfare defined, journal=Conveyancer and Property Lawyer, publisher=Sweet & Maxwell, volume=1992, issue=September, issn=0010-8200 1992 in case law 1992 in British law English trusts case law House of Lords cases Charity law Court of Session cases Charitable trusts

Facts

Judgment

See also

References

Bibliography