The first of these relates to the ability to import (i.e. buy from outside the EU) PPE without the imposition of VAT or Duty. However, the criteria for this requires the goods to be imported by or on behalf of an organisation based in the UK who are:

1. state organisations, including state bodies, public bodies and other bodies governed by public law

2. other charitable or philanthropic organisations approved by the competent authorities”

So may have limited impact.

The second announcement was made in Business Brief 4 2020 and implements a temporary zero-rate for the supply of PPE between 1 May 2020 and 31 July 2020. The government definition of what qualifies as PPE can be found by clicking here .

For some buyers it may be worth considering looking to stock up in this temporary period, especially if the buyer cannot recover all or any of the VAT it incurs on such expenditure.


E-publications – now zero-rated

It was announced in this year’s Budget that e-publications would be zero-rated for VAT (like their hard copy counterparts) from 1 December 2020. However, due to lockdown, HMRC have realised that e-publications are now being used far more and they have subsequently brought forward the effective date of the zero-rating to 1 May 2020.

If you have any queries regarding these or any other VAT matters, please contact our VAT Director, Ian Marrow at [email protected]