The ECJ has ruled in the case Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta (BAPV)(C-427/10) that the normal time limits for a supplier to claim a refund of VAT overpaid to tax authorities could be extended under certain conditions. The case involved a change of VAT treatment of a supply of services, where the treatment was thought initially [...]
The following sets out how to properly account for VAT on cycle to work schemes from January 2012, plus some further commentary on the difficulties surrounding lease car schemes. General Rules HMRC Brief 28/11 stated that deductions under salary sacrifice schemes would become subject to VAT where applicable from the 1st January 2012. Trusts already [...]
The VAT Tribunal of the Field Fisher Waterhouse case TC/2010/01947 has requested a ruling from the ECJ to establish the correct treatment of common area service charges in respect of leased properties (where no option to tax has been exercised, or one cannot be exercised). The case questions whether service charges under a lease of [...]
The Sue Ryder charity has been campaigning to change Government policy on VAT relief for charities providing hospice care, which has resulted in a proposed amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill. A new Bill is now moving through Parliament which will make provision for charitable healthcare providers taking on new responsibilities from the [...]
HMRC has published two updated VAT Notices (701/31 – Health Institutions and 701/57 – Health Professionals). These include a few areas of clarification which are of interest to NHS bodies. These are: Self Employed Locums As part of the Health Professionals update, the VAT treatment of supplies made by self-employed GP locums, has been clarified. [...]
Under the VAT rules, certain medical equipment can be zero-rated where the equipment is a medical or surgical appliance that is designed solely for the relief of a severe abnormality or a severe injury, and has been purchased for the personal or domestic use of a person defined as 'chronically sick or disabled'. This particular [...]
HMRC are currently considering enacting the VAT Cost Sharing Exemption. This is a provision of EC VAT law not currently applicable in the UK which allows businesses and organisations making VAT exempt and/or non-business supplies to form groups in order to achieve cost savings. The principal benefit of the exemption is that by removing a [...]
Some NHS Trusts have been advised in the past that where an invoice shows separate lines for different elements of a supply, these invoices cannot be apportioned or ‘split' in order to recover VAT on the eligible COS part. Although this may be true in some respects, this is not always the case as each [...]
In an article from November 2010, we informed you about the introduction of VAT penalties for the NHS for the first time from April 2011. To re-cap, the penalties are designed so that if a taxpayer takes ‘reasonable care’ when completing a return, they will not be penalised for an error. The penalties could range [...]
The standard rate of VAT is due to rise again from 17.5% to 20% on 4 January 2011. This rise in VAT may encourage NHS organisations to make large value purchases in December 2010 rather than in January 2011, but there are other ways to ensure that the lower rate of VAT is applied where [...]