Government to press ahead with its review of VAT in the public sector

Changes in VAT legislation are often preceded by a consultation of the most affected sectors or by a Government led review of a particular sector’s activities. At any one time there are usually a dozen or more tax consultations and reviews taking place, all forming part of the Government’s evolving tax policy.

The COVID-19 crisis is, understandably, interfering with the progress of some consultations so the Government has recently published which consultations are subject to delay and which are going ahead as planned.

Of particular interest to us and to our clients, the following consultations are expected to go ahead this Spring and Summer:

• A review of how VAT works in the public sector
• A consultation on the design of a carbon emissions tax

Details of these two consultations are not available yet but we will be monitoring their release.

It was also announced that the current consultation into the potential extension of Climate Change Agreements (where intensive energy users benefit from valuable reductions in climate change levy costs) will close as planned on 11 June 2020 – so there is still time for large consumers of energy to make representations.

Finally, we look forward to the release details about the Government’s next steps following the Aggregates Levy Review last year. This tax has been heavily challenged since it was first introduced and remains unpopular in many sectors – it will be interesting to see to what extent it will be changed.

If you are interested to know more about the upcoming review of VAT in the public sector please contact Louise Gray or Liz Maher in our Public Sector team directly on 01633 415390 or through emailus@centurionvat.com. If you would like to discuss the environmental tax consultations please contact Mike Trotman mike.trotman@centurionvat.com.

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