VAT Relief
VAT Relief for Disabled People and Long-Term Illnesses (UK)
This information is copied from the HMRC website. For more detailed information, please refer to: Reliefs from VAT for disabled and older people (Notice 701/7)
If you are disabled or have a long-term illness, you may be eligible for VAT relief on certain goods and services designed or adapted for your personal or domestic use. This means you won’t be charged VAT on:
- The qualifying products themselves.
- Their installation and any necessary extra work.
- Repairs or maintenance.
- Spare parts or accessories.
Both the product and your disability must qualify for VAT relief.
How to Get VAT-Free Products and Services
To benefit from VAT relief, your disability or long-term illness must meet specific criteria. For VAT purposes, you are considered disabled or to have a long-term illness if:
- You have a physical or mental impairment that significantly and long-term affects your ability to carry out everyday activities (e.g., blindness).
- You have a condition treated by the medical profession as a chronic sickness (e.g., diabetes).
- You are terminally ill.
You do not qualify if you are elderly but otherwise able-bodied, or if your disability is temporary (e.g., a broken limb).
You will need to confirm your eligibility in writing to your supplier. Your supplier may provide you with a form for this purpose, such as the “Declaration of eligibility for VAT relief (disabled person)”.
You can download the declaration form here: VAT reliefs for disabled people – eligibility declaration by a disabled person
Important Information for Suppliers
As a supplier, it is your responsibility to ensure that both your customer and the goods/services supplied meet all the conditions for VAT zero-rating.
- Customer Eligibility: You must verify that your customer is “chronically sick or disabled” and that the goods or services are for their personal or domestic use. You should obtain a written declaration from your customer confirming their eligibility.
- Product/Service Eligibility: You must ensure the goods or services you are supplying are specifically designed or adapted for disabled people and qualify for VAT relief. If unsure, contact the manufacturer for confirmation of the product’s design intention.
- Record Keeping: You must keep the customer’s declaration with your records; do not return it to the customer or send it to HMRC.
- No Automatic Justification: A declaration from a customer does not automatically justify zero-rating your supply. You must still verify that the goods or services qualify.
- Guidance: Always refer to HMRC Notice 701/7: “Reliefs from VAT for disabled and older people” for comprehensive details.
Conditions for Zero-Rating Goods and Services
Supplies are only zero-rated when all the following conditions are met:
- Customer Eligibility: The customer is eligible (chronically sick or disabled, or a qualifying charity).
- Personal/Domestic Use: The goods are for the customer’s personal or domestic use.
- Eligible Goods/Services: The specific goods and services qualify for zero-rating.
HMRC cannot issue refunds directly to customers if VAT is incorrectly charged; adjustments must be made by the supplier.
Who Can Buy Zero-Rated Goods and Services?
VAT reliefs for disabled people are not means-tested and do not depend on benefits or registration as disabled. Zero-rated supplies can be made to:
- Disabled people: As defined in the “How to Get VAT-Free Products and Services” section.
- Charities: Where the goods are made available by the charity to a disabled person for their personal or domestic use. Additional rules apply; refer to Notice 701/1: charities and Notice 701/6: charity funded equipment for medical, veterinary uses.
What "Domestic or Personal Use" Means
“Domestic or personal use” means the supply is specifically for the use of an individual disabled person or a series of disabled individuals. It excludes:
- Goods and services used for business purposes.
- Supplies made widely available for a group of people (e.g., a stairlift in a charity building for general use, rather than specific individuals).
- Supplies to inpatients or residents of hospitals or nursing homes, or those attending for care or treatment, unless the items are intended for use in the care or treatment provided.
Evidence of Eligibility
HMRC does not provide “exemption certificates.” Suppliers should obtain a written declaration from each eligible customer. This declaration should:
- Contain enough information to demonstrate the customer fulfills the eligibility criteria.
- Be separate from, or clearly distinguishable from, any order form or invoice.
- Can be a template provided by HMRC or reproduced by the supplier/customer.
- Electronic declarations (e.g., email, fax) are acceptable, but evidence of origin should be retained.
No declaration is needed for eligible goods or services funded by the Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA), but evidence of DSA funding should be kept.
If a disabled person cannot sign, a parent, guardian, doctor, or another responsible person can sign on their behalf.
Goods and Services Eligible for Zero-Rating (Summary)
Not all goods and services for disabled people are zero-rated. The following is a summary of commonly zero-rated items and services:
- Adapted Motor Vehicles: Specifically for disabled wheelchair users (refer to Notice 1002).
- Medical and Surgical Appliances: Devices designed solely for the relief of a severe abnormality or severe injury (e.g., artificial limbs, heart pacemakers, invalid wheelchairs, specialist clothing/footwear, wigs). These are zero-rated if sold without the need for fitting at a hospital or nursing home.
- Electrically or Mechanically Adjustable Beds: Designed for invalids (similar to hospital beds, with specific features like cot sides or height adjustment).
- Chair or Stair Lifts, Hoists and Lifters: Designed for use by invalids (includes riser-recliner chairs).
- Sanitary Devices: Commode stools, commode chairs, devices with warm air driers/bidet jets, frames to assist sitting/rising.
- Boats: Designed or substantially adapted for use by disabled persons or to carry them.
- Other Equipment and Appliances “Designed Solely” for Disabled People: This is a key criterion. The original intention of the designer must have been to produce the equipment solely to meet the needs of persons with one or more disabilities.
- Examples: Braille embossers, incontinence products, long-handled pick-up sticks, text telephones, white canes for blind people, vibrating pillows for deaf people, wheelchairs.
- Incontinence Products: Zero-rated at retail sale without individual declarations for small quantities. For larger quantities, a signed declaration or other evidence is required.
- Non-eligible items: Most hearing aids (with exceptions), contact lenses, dentures, spectacles are generally excluded.
- Computer Devices and Other Electronic Devices: Only zero-rated when sold as part of an assistive technology system with pre-installed specialist software specifically required by the disabled individual. Separate purchases of general-purpose software or training (unless part of a single supply) are not relieved. Electronic downloads are always standard-rated.
- Auditory Training Aids for Deaf Children and Equipment to Aid the Hard of Hearing: Includes specific hearing aids for deaf children, tinnitus maskers, induction loops (not public address systems), TV hearing aids, bone implant attachments.
- Low Vision Aids: Custom-made spectacle-mounted low vision aids and technical aids for reading/writing designed exclusively for visually impaired people (e.g., closed-circuit video magnification equipment).
- Parts and Accessories: Zero-rated if designed solely for use in or with qualifying goods. General-purpose items like standard batteries are not included unless supplied as part of a wider qualifying service.
- Mobility Scooters: Class 1 (non-mechanically propelled) and Class 2 (mechanically propelled, up to 4 mph) are zero-rated. Class 3 (up to 8 mph, for pavement and road) are zero-rated if designed solely for disabled persons.
- Hydrotherapy Pools: Zero-rated if incorporating specific features making them significantly different from normal pools and designed for personal use by a disabled person.
- Letting of Goods on Hire or Lease: Eligible goods can be zero-rated when hired or leased to an eligible customer.
Services of Installation, Repair, Maintenance, Warranty, and Adaptation
- Installation: Zero-rated for eligible goods as long as the goods themselves are eligible and not paid for/arranged by the NHS or similar institutions.
- Repair and Maintenance: Zero-rated for any of the goods specified as eligible for relief.
- Extended Warranty: Generally not zero-rated unless it is an exempt insurance service or contains a clause for regular servicing of an eligible product.
- Adaptation of Goods: Zero-rated for the service of adapting general-purpose goods to suit a disabled person’s condition. The original goods being adapted do not qualify for relief.
Building and Construction Services
Certain building work can be zero-rated:
- Ramps, Doorways, and Passages: Services of constructing a ramp or widening an existing doorway/passage to help a disabled person gain access or move within their private residence (for individuals) or any building (for charities).
- Bathrooms, Washrooms, and Lavatories: Services of providing, extending, or adapting these facilities if necessary to suit a disabled person’s condition, in their private residence (for individuals) or specific residential accommodation/day centres (for charities).
- Installation or Repair/Maintenance of Lifts: Zero-rated for lifts designed to help a disabled person move between floors in their private residence, or in qualifying charity buildings.
- Preparatory, Restoration Work, and Making Good: Zero-rated if directly related and essential to qualifying building work (e.g., removing bricks for a wider doorway, retiling after a bathroom adaptation).
Important Exclusions for Building Work:
- General building alterations (e.g., central heating, replacement windows, general extensions, kitchens, carer’s rooms) are notzero-rated even if they benefit a disabled person.
- Professional services (architects, surveyors) are generally standard-rated unless part of a single “design and build” arrangement.
- Subsequent repair/maintenance of building work (e.g., retiling a zero-rated bathroom) is not eligible unless it involves goods eligible for relief in their own right.
- Building materials bought directly by a disabled person or charity for DIY or work by unpaid individuals are notzero-rated as there’s no associated zero-rated construction service.
Emergency Alarm Call Systems
- Zero-Rated: Supply of an emergency alarm call system designed for operation by a disabled person to call for help to a specified person or control centre.
- Control Centre Services: Services performed by a control centre in receiving and responding to calls from such systems are also zero-rated.
- Repair and Maintenance: Qualifies for VAT relief.
- Exclusions: Ordinary telephones, internal communication systems, intruder alarms, CCTV, installation of ordinary phone lines.
Imports and Acquisitions
- Imports (from outside the EU): VAT can be relieved under the same conditions as domestic supplies. Eligible customers should make a declaration to customs. Customs Duty relief may also apply (refer to Notice 371).
- Acquisitions (from EU member states): VAT-registered charities eligible for zero-rated goods can account for tax at the zero rate. Non-VAT registered persons pay VAT at the prevailing rate in the member state of purchase; this cannot be refunded in the UK.
Other Useful Information
For information on disability benefits and other help, you can consult organizations like DIAL Network, Scope, and Disability Rights UK.
Reduced Rate VAT on Mobility Aids for Older People
A reduced rate of VAT (5%) applies to certain mobility aids supplied and installed in the home of a person aged 60 or over.
Who's Covered?
- Customers aged 60 or over.
- The mobility aid is supplied and installed in their own home, or a home shared with friends/relations.
- The work cannot be in a residential home or similar establishment; it must be a private home.
- The customer does not have to pay personally; it can be ordered/paid for by someone else, a charity, local authority, etc.
- Important:The reduced rate only applies if you both supply and install the item. It does not apply to simple supply.
Goods Eligible for Reduced Rate VAT (Supply and Installation)
- Grab rails
- Ramps
- Stair lifts
- Bath lifts
- Built-in shower seats or showers containing built-in shower seats
- Walk-in baths with sealable doors
Note: Repairs of these goods once installed are not eligible for the reduced rate. The reduced rate does not apply to general home adaptations (e.g., widening passageways, building extensions) for people over 60.
How the Customer Gets the Reduced Rate
Customers will need to provide a written declaration of their eligibility. This declaration should be separate from any invoice, order, or other paperwork.
