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Anyone in this newsgroup give adavice about VAT and the VAT Act 1994?

I've got different answers each time I've been in contact with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) :-(

Here is my dilemma/problem. I am disabled, my left arm is paralysed and in order to drive a car legally I require it to be adapted with an infrared hand control. Anyway, I've always thought that the supply and fitting of an adaption to a car to enable a disabled person to drive was eligible for VAT relief. To back this up Notice 701/59 Motor Vehicles for disabled people, section 1.3 states that disabled people can get VAT relief on the cost of adaptation to suit condition and section 11 also states that an adaption is eligible for VAT relief. Further Notice 701/7 VAT reliefs for disabled people describes what a disabled person is in section 3.2.1 and in section 4.5 states that equipment and appliances designed solely for use by disabled people is zero rated. Section 5.1 goes on to state that the installation of these goods can also be zero rated.

I have been in contact with HMRC and I'm a little confused. I was told that the supply of the adaption would be free of VAT, but as it was to be fitted to a car it would not be VAT free, and so I would have to pay VAT on the supply and fitting of the adaption. As I am not a wheelchair or stretcher user, I am aware that the car is not free of VAT. But is seems daft that I can buy the adaption free of VAT if it were to be used for anything other than its intended purpose, but as it is to be fitted to a car in order for it to be free of VAT I have to be a wheelchair or stretcher user. How daft is that? I think that when they produced Notices 701/59 and 701/7 they got a little mixed up as it does not seem to represent what is in Schedule 8, Section 30, Group 12 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.

Please also note that due to the nature of my disability I am not eligible for any help towards the adaption I require. I have to pay for it out of my own pocket and my last adaption cost me 1,755 to be supplied and fitted.

I hope you have not fallen asleep after reading the above :-)

Dave

Reply to
Dave {}
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Interesting post.

I suggest you contact a company which specialises in adapting vehicles for disabled people. They are more likely to be familiar with the detailed aspects of the relevant legislation than the HMRCE call centre people.

What they say may be correct as VAT is full of stupid anomalies. If I buy a roast chicken at a chip shop, I pay VAT but if I buy the same thing in a supermarket, I pay no VAT. Work that one out!

Reply to
Alasdair

In a chip shop the chicken is hot and meant to be eaten soon but in the supermarket it is cold and most likely will be eaten later.

Reply to
Peter Saxton

Not necessarily true. Some supermarkets have a rotisserie counter which serves hot chicken in foil lined bags, which is obviously intended to be consumed hot.

Reply to
Graham Murray

Why 'obviously'? maybe the bags are there to protect the rest of your shopping from the hot food, or at least could be used for that.

Reply to
Tumbleweed

The reason it's obvious is because if the intention were not for it to be eaten hot, then they wouldn't need the rotisserie counter, they could just sell the chilled pre-roasted stuff (which they do already anyway).

Reply to
Ronald Raygun

Not so. In our local Sainsbury's, the chicken is piping hot and kept so in a heated display cabinet.

Reply to
Alasdair

In which case you have to pay VAT on it, if it is sold with the intention that it is eaten while still hot.

Reply to
Jonathan Bryce

What makes you think there's no VAT charged?

Reply to
Peter Saxton

but this way you get an option to have it hot, plus you know its freshly cooked even if you'll have it cold in an hour.

Reply to
Tumbleweed

Quite. Cold take-away food is zero-rated but not hot take-away food. I'd be surprised if the supermarket zero-rates hot freshly cooked chickens.

Reply to
Nogood Boyo

You've obviously read the relevant HMRC guidance and the law. If the guidance in 701/7 and 701/59 is not clear or inconsistent, the last thing you should rely on is the verbal advice of someone in HMRC. You should put to HMRC in writing the points which you have set out here and request a written ruling. If the ruling suits you, go with it. If you still think it's wrong, dispute the ruling and request a reconsideration until you get an explanation / ruling which you can accept as being consistent with the law. Although they try really hard, they don't always get their guidance right. When they get it wrong, it's usually because of an attempt to dumb down the draft written by the technical expert.

Reply to
Nogood Boyo

How do you know that it wasnt first cooked last week off-site in controlled conditions then simply warmed up in this rotisserie ?

Reply to
Miss L. Toe

You don't, but that's not important. The important thing is you have to pay VAT for the dubious privilege.

Reply to
Ronald Raygun

Speaking of being clear and consistent, would it not have been better to have phrased the above as ".. is unclear or inconsistent .."? Otherwise the "not" might be taken to apply both to "clear" and to "inconsistent" instead of just to "clear".

:-]

Reply to
Ronald Raygun

Can you get a rebate if you put it next to the ice cream in your trolley and it cools down by the time you get to the checkout (and melts the ice cream) ?

Reply to
Miss L. Toe

Yes dear...

Reply to
Nogood Boyo

I think there is a special Euro VAT refund form for that exact occurrence

Reply to
Tumbleweed

Just to follow this up. I've now had a written reply from HMRC and they state that the adaption is zero VAT rated :-)

Dave

Reply to
Dave {}

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