Corporation Tax Act 2010 section 491

Scientific research associations

Section 491 grants scientific research associations the same corporation tax exemptions that apply to charitable companies, treating all their income as if it were applied to charitable purposes.

• A body that qualifies as a scientific research association for a given accounting period can claim the same corporation tax exemptions as a charitable company.
• For the purposes of these exemptions, all of the association's income is treated as though it were applied to charitable purposes, so there is no need to demonstrate that expenditure meets a charitable purpose test.
• The exemptions cover profits from charitable trades, fund-raising events, lotteries, property income, investment income, certain miscellaneous income, and income from estates in administration.
• An association that is itself a charity is not prevented from claiming exemption under its own charitable status; equally, a charitable association may still benefit from this section as an alternative route to exemption.