George Osborne has announced in his Autumn budget statement a refund of VAT for Hospices, Search and Rescue Charities and Air Ambulance Charities from April 2015.

As ‘end-users’ or consumers, hospices and charities routinely suffer VAT as a cost burden and this should provide welcome relief.

Although there has been no announcement regarding the actual detail of how this VAT refund will be completed – nor to what extent it will relate to goods and / or services – the Monitor Report of 2013 ‘A fair playing field for the benefit of NHS patients’, recognised the cost distortion between the public sector and charitable/private sector in providing healthcare services. In the main this is due to the NHS claiming VAT refunds using the Contracted Out Services mechanism and the report recommended that these VAT refunds could be extended for use by the charitable sector. As soon as more information becomes available we will update our clients with the details.

Having almost twenty years experience of dealing with NHS and Charitable VAT issues and having huge experience with the VAT Refund mechanisim – Berthold Bauer will be ideally placed to assist these organisations with their new VAT regime. If you are an eligible charity, or have clients who will benefit from this unexpected windfall, please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to discuss this matter in greater detail.